Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President of Maldives Mohamed Muizzu in Male on July 25. 

60th anniversary of establishment of India-Maldives diplomatic relations

• Modi and Muizzu released commemorative stamps on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of India-Maldives diplomatic relations.

• Reflecting the age-old bilateral ties between the two countries, the commemorative stamps depict the Indian boat Uru, a large wooden dhow handcrafted in the historic boatyards of Beypore, Kerala, and the traditional Maldivian fishing boat — Vadhu Dhoni. 

• These boats have been part of the Indian Ocean trade for centuries. The traditional Maldivian fishing boat — Vadhu Dhoni — is used for reef and coastal fishing. 

• India was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Maldives following its independence in 1965. 

• The commemorative stamps release symbolises the close and historical ties between the two countries.

Reset of ties after ‘India Out’ row

• The turnaround in the bilateral ties assumes significance as Muizzu, known to be close to China, came to power in the island nation in November 2023 on the back of an ‘India Out’ campaign.

• His policies in the first few months of his presidency resulted in severe strain in the ties. 

• Within hours of his oath, he had demanded the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from his country. Subsequently, India replaced the personnel with civilians.

• The Indian military personnel were deployed to the Maldives to maintain and operate two helicopters and an aircraft, which were used for humanitarian and rescue operations.

• It is widely believed that New Delhi’s sustained efforts, including its assistance to the island nation to deal with economic woes, helped bring the relations back on track.

• The 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 governments in Male.

Highlights of the meeting:

• Both leaders also took stock of the progress in the implementation of the India-Maldives Joint Vision for a ‘Comprehensive Economic and Maritime Security Partnership’, adopted during the State Visit of the President of Maldives to India in October 2024. 

• PM Modi reiterated India’s commitment to further deepen ties with Maldives in keeping with its ‘Neighbourhood First’ and Vision MAHASAGAR policies.

• The two leaders discussed cooperation in the fields of development partnership, infrastructure support, capacity building, climate action and health. 

• They also called for further strengthening defence and maritime security cooperation and, in this regard, noted the collaboration between the two countries under the Colombo Security Conclave.

• The two leaders witnessed exchange of six MoUs in the fields of fisheries and aquaculture, meteorology, digital public infrastructure, UPI, Indian pharmacopoeia and concessional Line of Credit. 

• The new Line of Credit (LoC) offers Rs 4,850 crore in support of infrastructure development and other activities in Maldives. 

• An Amendatory Agreement for the existing LoCs was also exchanged. It reduces Maldives’s annual debt repayment obligations by 40 per cent from $51 million to $29 million.

• Both sides also exchanged Terms of Reference of the proposed Free Trade Agreement.

• The two leaders also virtually inaugurated a roads and drainage system project in Addu city and six High Impact Community Development Projects in other cities. 

• PM Modi handed over 3,300 social housing units and 72 vehicles for Maldives National Defence Force and Immigration authorities.

• The two leaders planted mango saplings as part of India’s ‘Ek Pedh Maa Ke Naam’ and Maldives’s ‘Pledge of 5 million Tree Plantation’ campaigns.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)