New Delhi: Mr. V. Muraleedharan, Minister of State (MOS) for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs of India, paid an official visit to Maldives from 03-04 June 2023. This was the first visit of MoS to Maldives.
During the visit, MoS visited Addu city, the second largest city in Maldives where he participated in the ground breaking ceremony of the Gan International Airport. MoS also participated in the ceremony for commencement of works of Addu Reclamation project. In Addu, MoS also inaugurated High Impact Community Development Projects, built under India’s grant assistance.
MoS also met with the leadership of Maldives. The visit also saw signing of agreements related to the bilateral development cooperation in Maldives.
Maldives is India’s key maritime neighbour in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and occupies a special place in Prime Minister’s vision of ‘SAGAR’ (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’. This visit has been seen to lend further momentum to substantive cooperation and robust people to people ties between the two countries.