Ex-President Nasheed concludes trip to India

Former President Mohamed Nasheed returned to Maldives on Saturday morning, after a short official trip to neighboring India.

Nasheed left to India on Tuesday, on the invitation of Council for Chancellor Relations and the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

The same day, he spoke at the University on “why South Asia needs democracies- because autocrats will likely sell out their country’s sovereignty in exchange for kick-backs and bribes.”

Nasheed the also met with Indian government officials during the trip, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Noting that it was “a pleasure” to meet the PM, the former president via twitter said that “a strong, stable and prosperous Maldives is not just in the interests of the Maldivian people, but the whole Indian Ocean region.” The meeting took place on Friday.

During his meeting with external affairs ministers on Thursday, both parties held discussions “on three areas of mutual concern; climate change, extremism and the danger of Maldives falling into a debt trap because of the reckless borrowing of the previous administration.”

While the former president just concluded an official trip to India, incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s maiden visit since assuming office in November 2018, was to the country as well.

During the trip, the president signed four significant agreements with the Indian government, including a visa deal and providing a credit facility of USD 1.4 billion.