India and the Maldives have finalised a framework to promote the use of local currencies for cross border trade with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar asserting that New Delhi has always stood by the island nation.
“I see that the framework to promote the use of local currencies for cross border transaction has been signed,” Jaishankar said.
“We have increased our engagement in various sectors and I do want to say that India has always stood by the Maldives. You are a very concrete expression of our neighbourhood first policy,” he added.
Jaishankar made the remarks at a meeting with his Maldivian counterpart Abdulla Khaleel in Delhi.
Khaleel arrived in New Delhi on January 2 on a three-day visit to explore ways to bolster bilateral ties in several key areas including maritime security, trade and investment.
Maldives is one of India's key maritime neighbours in the Indian Ocean Region and the overall bilateral ties including in areas of defence and security witnessed an upward trajectory under the previous government in Male.
The ties between India and the Maldives came under severe strain after Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, took charge of the top office in November 2023.
Within hours of his oath, he had demanded the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from his country. Subsequently, the Indian military personnel were replaced by civilians.
However, there was a thaw in the relations as Muizzu vowed to boost the bilateral ties with India during his visit to Delhi in October.
On January 3, the Maldivian foreign minister will hold wide-ranging talks with his Indian counterpart Dr S Jaishankar covering almost all aspects of India-Maldives ties.
“Working towards India-Maldives joint vision of a ‘Comprehensive Economic & Maritime Security Partnership’. Warm welcome to FM @abkhaleel of Maldives on his first official visit to India,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on X.
This visit is part of continued high-level engagements between the two sides and has provided an opportunity to further deepen the bilateral ties for the mutual benefit of two countries and the Indian Ocean Region.