India, Maldives fully committed development partners during Covid-19 "and beyond"

Maldives and India remain committed to continue being comprehensive development partners, during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and beyond, says India’s Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar.

These remarks were made shortly after the External Affairs Minister of India called on President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Sunday, at the President’s Office, via Twitter.

The pair held extensive discussions during the call, including regarding cooperation amid the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic as well as the long-standing friendly relations between both countries.

During the call, President Solih expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and his people for the generous assistance which was announced during Jaishankar’s ongoing visit to the island nation.

The president also noted that receiving the first shipment of Covishield vaccination doses in January proved to boost the government’s efforts to battle the ongoing pandemic.

Shedding light on the developments to the tourism industry due to the air bubble established between both countries, the president also touched down on expanding cooperation in the area of sustainable development.

Further, Minister Jaishankar conveyed PM Modi’s greetings to the Maldivian president, reiterating that Maldives and India will remain committed to continue being comprehensive development partners during the pandemic “and beyond”.

He praised the president for the government’s remarkable efforts to contain and control the spread of Covid-19.

India’s Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar arrived in the Maldives on his second official visit on Saturday, where he announced that Maldives would receive an additional 100,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccination manufactured by India’s Serum Institute, as well as USD 40 million for sports development.