President Solih, PM Modi inaugurate development projects via video-link
The conference was held on Wednesday afternoon
President Solih with Prime Minister Modi | Presidents Office
The Maldives and India have initiated four key development projects on Wednesday.
The projects were officially launched by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, via a live video conference, at 3:30pm.
The projects included the gifting of in-shore patrol vessel CGS Kaamiyaabu from the Government of India to the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) Coast Guard. This exchange was officiated by Minister of Defense, Mariya Ahmed Didi and the Ambassador of India to the Maldives, Sunjay Sudhir.
Additionally, the ceremony featured the exchange of agreements under the High Impact Community Development Projects which would see undertakings targeting socio-economic development and improvement of public welfare—including the launch of the project to develop Neighbourhood Fish Processing Plants in three islands of Addu City.
This exchange was officiated by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulla Shahid and Ambassador Sudhir.
The Maldives and India then exchanged agreements for the use of RuPay Card in the Maldives, in addition to gifting LED streetlights to Malé City by the Indian Government. This exchange was officiated by the Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Maldives (BML) Timothy Sawyer and Harishankar Yadav, the Head of International Alliance at the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
The donation of LED streetlights was highlighted to be a part of the collaboration between the two countries in the field of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
The two leaders also delivered remarks at the video conference, which was telecasted live; this is the first time the Maldives is exchanging bilateral agreements with another country via video conferencing.
Maldives ties with India had soured during former President Abdulla Yameen's term, as he focused building relations with China; something which was criticized by the then-opposition
Since the new government took over, relations with India have been observably and equally improving.
Likewise, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's inauguration last November, and Solih's maiden trip abroad was to India. PM Modi made an official visit to the Maldives in May this year.
