The Minister of External Affairs of India Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has departed from the Maldives today after concluding his official visit to the Maldives. The Indian External Affairs Minister arrived on an official visit yesterday.

During his visit, the Minister of External Affairs called on the President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and the Speaker of Parliament, former President Mohamed Nasheed and met with his counterpart, the Maldivian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulla Shahid. The two Ministers reviewed the gamut of development cooperation projects and discussed strengthening of cooperation in various avenues.

The External Affairs Minister met with the Defence Minister, Mariya Didi and reaffirmed that defence cooperation constitutes an integral part of the bilateral relationship.

He also held a joint meeting with the Minister of Finance, Ibrahim Ameer, the Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail and the Minister of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, Mohamed Aslam, where the discussions focused on the projects currently in various stages of implementation, under two Lines of Credit extended to the Government of Maldives, from the Government of India, through the Export Import Bank of India.

Projects undertaken with the Indian grant assistance that includes the Hulhumalé Park, and the renovation of Hulhumalé West-side Jetty, was inaugurated during the Indian External Affairs Minister's visit. He also attended a ceremony at Ekuveni Track, where the strengthening sports cooperation between the Maldives and India was celebrated. The renovation of Ekuveni track was partially financed with Indian grant assistance, and recently inaugurated by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was seen off at Velena International Airport by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Khaleel, Foreign Secretary, Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, High Commissioner of Maldives to India, Dr. Hussain Niyaaz, and Joint Secretary, Mariyam Midhfa Naeem.

The Maldivian Foreign Ministry said that the Indian External Affairs Minister's visit marked a significant milestone for the development of bilateral relations of two countries and the two sides agreed to further intensify the cooperation and enhance the Maldives-India partnership while a number of key Agreements and MoUs were also signed during the visit.