India approves entry of 37 critically-ill patients from Maldives
This was following a request from the Maldivian government, due to the lack of treatment options in the country
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and PM Narendra Modi | Presidents Office
India has approved Maldives’ request to facilitate the travel of Maldivian patients requiring critical advanced medical treatment.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih made the announcement at Tuesday’s press conference, where he also revealed that the Maldives will be reopening borders for tourism on July 15.
Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, for facilitating the travel.
The minister described this as “yet another example of the strong people-to-people connection that is the backbone of Maldives-India partnership”.
Work is underway to send the patients to India next week, under a special permission from the country’s Ministry of Home Affairs to allow Maldivian patients in critical condition due to the lack of treatment options in the Maldives.
Further, the patients will be provided treatment in Cochin.
In a statement, the High Commission of India in Maldives said that those that are to be allowed to travel to India include cancer patients seeking radiation therapy. It added that their travel will be facilitated “as soon as possible”.
The foreign ministry said that the approval was provided following several discussions with Indian authorities. As such, both foreign ministries are to have held discussions over the matter, while it was also a key topic during Foreign Minister Shahid’s meeting with Indian High Commissioner Sunjay Sudhir last week. The two officials met on Monday as well.
Authorities announced efforts to transport patients in critical condition to the neighboring nation under the national social health insurance scheme Aasandha, earlier this month.
While India resumed domestic flights in late May, they have yet to announce on when international flights will start again. The Indian government says that a decision will be made after the domestic air traffic volume reaches 50 per cent, and reports indicate that international flight operations may be resumed in mid-July.
