External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said that "close partnerships with neighbours are of great value”, and as “close and proximate” neighbours, the development of India and Maldives ties is “based on mutual interests and reciprocal sensitivity.”
The external affairs minister met his Maldivian counterpart and Muizzu-led government’s Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer in New Delhi, who is the first leader to visit India after Mohamed Muizzu became the President of Maldives in November last year.
Speaking on his first visit to India after taking charge, Zameer said, "It was a good visit, and it was a very warm welcome. My counterpart S Jaishankar and myself, had very fruitful discussions this morning... I thank the government of India and MEA..."
"If you go back to 1965 when Maldives became independent, India was one of the first countries to recognize Maldives... we have been very clear that we want to have a very good relationship and deepen our relationship," he said.
Talking to the media, Zameer spoke about debt relief measures, a visit by a Chinese vessel, the decline of Indian tourists, the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from the island nation, derogatory remarks against India and President Muizzu visiting China and not India.
"Economic cooperation with India has been an integral part of Maldivian economy... So obviously, if there is any debt in any country that we are, we need to discuss based on those figures. So I did discuss that and we will continue to be engaged. But Maldivian people have benefited from the debt that we have received and also from a lot of grants that we have received from the Indian government, and we appreciate that," he said to ANI.
The foreign minister of Maldives denied any research permit given to visiting Chinese vessels. "Regarding the port call for Chinese vessels, we issued personal rotation and friendly portable permits, and diplomatic clearances came from the Chinese side, which is very common in Maldives. We as a peaceful country, welcome those vessels which come for peaceful purposes. We have not permitted the Chinese vessel for research in the Maldivian waters."
Zameer welcomed Indian tourists to the island nation and highlighted that the Maldives tourism minister has already invited all Indian tourists to continue their visit. "...In the past couple of months, we have had about a 16-17% increase and then of course there has been a decrease in Indian markets but I'm confident that it will pick up shortly," he said.
The minister emphasised that the Maldives-India defence relations go beyond military personnel, and those platforms which have been handled by the military personnel will now be handled by civilians. "We have had a joint exercise with the Maldivian military, Indian military and Sri Lanka and we will continue to have these exercises..."
On the issue of derogatory remarks against India, the foreign minister said that it is not the stand of the government, adding "It shouldn't have been done. We are taking proper action to make sure that this doesn’t get repeated."
Shedding light on President Mohamed Muizzu visiting China and not India, as previous presidents used to visit India as a tradition, Zameer said, "I don't think there is any military pact with China. One thing the president of Maldives has clearly said is that we are not bringing in any foreign militaries in the Maldives, no, we are not. The president visited Turkey as well as China. I think that mainly on convenience because obviously, we did discuss with Delhi about a visit. But for the convenience of both sides, we thought it might be okay for us to delay it a little bit. So, even today, with my discussions with the External Affairs minister, we are discussing the President's visit to Delhi very soon. Hopefully."