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Maldives Democratic Party Chairman Abdullah Shahid met Foreign Minister S Jaishankar here on Saturday.
Maldives Democratic Party Chairman Abdullah Shahid met Foreign Minister S Jaishankar here on Saturday.
The main opposition Democratic Party of Maldives welcomed the readjustment of the government's policy towards India by the government led by President Muizou, and expressed the Maldives' confidence that India will always be the first to provide assistance in emergencies.
Maldives Democratic Party Chairman Abdullah Shahid met Foreign Minister S Jaishankar here on Saturday. Jaishankar is on a three-day official visit to the Maldives to reset bilateral ties, India's first high-level visit since the archipelago nation's pro-China President Muizul took office last year.
“Delighted to join colleagues at @MDPSecretariat in warmly welcoming Indian Foreign Minister @DrSJaishankar to the Maldives and meeting with him,” former Foreign Minister Shahid said in a statement released late on Saturday night. “Maldives have always believed that whenever Maldives 'dials international 911', India will always be the first responder,” he said.
He said, “The current government initially stoked anti-India sentiments through aggressive slogans, taunts and branding a time-honored friend and development partner as a regional bully, which resulted in Maldives' lower international status, economic losses and many other undesirable consequences. Necessary difficulties and challenges. “With this in mind, the Maldivian Democratic Party welcomes the sudden realignment of the Maldives-India policy by President Muizou’s government as opposed to the previous India-exit policy,” Shahid said. “
Relations between India and the Maldives have been severely strained since Muizou took office late last year. Within hours of taking the oath, he demanded the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from three aviation platforms gifted to the Maldives by India. After talks between the two countries, Indian military personnel were replaced by civilian personnel.
President Muizu on Saturday described India as “one of our closest allies” and reiterated his government's full commitment to strengthening the historic and close ties between the two countries. “The Maldivian Democratic Party hopes that this transformation will not be temporary or superficial, but consistent and meaningful, in the best interests of the Maldivian people,” Shahid said.
The Maldivian president said the party “calls on the Muizu government to publicly apologize for the actions, lies and irresponsible remarks of its officials, which have had a negative impact on the diplomatic and economic prospects of the Maldives” In a separate statement, the Democratic Party of Maldives welcomed Jaishankar's visit to the Maldives, saying: “The relationship between Maldives and India has always been based on mutual respect, respect for international law, territorial integrity, and regional security. aspirations and the principles of an open and peaceful Indian Ocean. “
DMK thanks India for its unwavering support to the people of Maldives. “MDP welcomes the exchange of notes during this visit to train an additional 1,000 civil servants – a major human resources initiative launched during the government of (former) President (Ibrahim Mohamed) Solih. “MDP We also welcome the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Economic Development and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on the enhancement and expansion of digital and integrated payment systems, another MoU discussed and finalized during President Solih’s administration,” he said.
The statement read: “The Maldives Democratic Party expresses its gratitude to India for initiating and handing over six high-impact community development projects, which were implemented with grant assistance from the Government of India and signed and implemented during the administration of President Solih “The High Impact Community Development Project Program is a highly successful and beneficial grant assistance program launched in 2019,” the statement said. “The party further welcomes the Export-Import Bank of India-financed handover of water supply and sewerage projects in 28 islands,” the statement said. say.
The projects are said to be through an $800 million credit line provided by the Indian government during former President Solih's first state visit to India in December 2018 and were launched during his administration. Maldives is one of India's important maritime neighbors in the Indian Ocean region and overall bilateral relations, including in the defense and security sectors, have shown an upward trend under the previous government led by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. .
(This report has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from associated news agency – PTI)