Minister Ghassan set to visit India

Minister of Defence Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon is scheduled to visit neighboring India.

This comes at the heels of Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Abdulla Khaleel’s recent trip to the neighboring country, from January 2 – 4. Minister Khaleel announced the defence minister’s upcoming visit during his trip.

According to Indian media outlets, Ghassan will visit India from January 7 – 8. This is the first visit by a Maldivian Defence Minister to Delhi since President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's government came to power back in November 2023. It has been revealed that this visit is scheduled at a time relations between the two countries remain on a “good” path.

Indian media outlets have reported that the Maldivian Foreign Minister has said that this visit will further expand the security agreement between the two countries and that the upcoming visit by the Maldivian Defence Minister is a very important one.

With Minister Ghassan's visit, it is hoped that the relationship between the two countries in the defense sector will be further strengthened.

In an interview, the Maldivian Foreign Minister noted that the Maldives Coast Guard building is almost complete. He said that there are some minor tasks to be completed before the building is inaugurated, and once the project is wrapped up, it will further enhance the Maldives' security sector.

The upcoming visit by the Maldivian Defense Minister is the third consecutive visit from Malé to Delhi in recent weeks. Earlier, the Foreign Minister and Finance Minister visited. With the first two ministerial visits from the Maldives to India at the beginning of this year, namely the visits of the Foreign Minister and the Defence Minister, this series of high-level visits from the Maldives demonstrates a significant change in the relationship between the two countries.

Last year, the president visited India twice. The first visit was for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony. The second visit was for a meeting held between the two countries. India's Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar also visited the Maldives. An invitation has also been extended to PM Modi, to visit the Maldives.