Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh reached Maldives on his maiden visit yesterday, May 1. He was received by Maldives’ Defence Minister Mariya Didi and other officials from Maldives National Defence forces.
AIR correspondent reports, the Raksha Mantri’s visit will be an important landmark in building the strong bonds of friendship between the two countries. He is scheduled to meet President Ibrahim Solih. In tune with India’s commitment to capacity building of friendly countries & partners in the region, Mr. Rajnath Singh will gift one Fast Patrol Vessel ship and a Landing Craft to the Maldives National Defence Forces. He will also visit the ongoing project sites in the country and interact with the Indian diaspora. He held a meeting with his Maldives counterpart Mariya Didi.
Discussions covered exchanging views on multiple subjects including further boosting the defence partnership between India & Maldives. Mr. Singh also met Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid and applauded the role of the foreign affairs ministry in the rapid growth of the India-Maldives partnership. Raksha Mantri hailed development cooperation as an important pillar of the partnership & conveyed India’s continued commitment to support developmental initiatives.