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India Continues Its High-Level Engagements With Maldives, EAM Jaishankar To Visit Island Nation This Weekend

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External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar is scheduled to visit the Maldives this Saturday to strengthen ties with the island nation. According to sources, there have been regular meetings and engagements between India and Maldives even during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had gone to the Maldives in November last year. A meeting took place between the two Foreign Ministers, through video conferencing in August 2020 in which several key projects and initiatives were announced.

The telephone conversation took place in April 2020 between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

‘India First’ has been the underlying foreign policy approach of the Maldives government. President Solih, since he assumed office in November 2018, has taken concerted initiatives on this front. This is in congruence with India’s Neighbourhood First’ policy.

According to informed sources, India’s rapid and comprehensive assistance to the Maldives since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has further reinforced its credentials of being the first responder. Maldives was the first country to receive COVID-19 vaccines from India when India gifted 100,000 doses in January 2021.

This was preceded by a series of health and humanitarian assistance provided in 2020 including the donation of 5.5 tons of essential medicines, airlifting of 6.2 tons of medicines by the IAF from various Indian cities under Operation Sanjeevani, the supply of 580 tons of food aid under Mission SAGAR by INS Kesari and deployment of Rapid Response Medical Team to assist in COVID-19 preventive methods, sources said.

India also undertook a series of economic and financial initiatives at the peak of the pandemic to revive the Maldivian economy and provided an extension of soft loans for budgetary support to its dwindling revenues primarily driven by tourism.

Also read: Unnao Girls Cremated Amid High Security, Police Say No Injuries In Post-Mortem Report

These were announced by EAM during his video conference meeting with his Maldivian counterpart in August 2020.
These included an extension of the soft loan of USD 250 million for budgetary support of Maldives and supporting the implementation of the Greater Male Connectivity Project – the largest civilian infrastructure project in Maldives, connecting Male with three neighbouring islands through the construction of a bridge-and-causeway link spanning 6.7 km, with a financial package consisting of a grant of USD 100 million and a new Line of Credit of USD 400 million.

The DPR for this project has been prepared and tendering process is on.
Other initiatives include the creation of an air travel bubble to facilitate the movement of people from both sides for employment, tourism, and medical emergencies.

The Maldives was the first neighbouring country with which an air bubble was operationalized.

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