Maldives and India sign 3 key agreements

Minister of External Affairs of India, Sushma Swaraj (L) arrives at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives for bilateral discussions with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives, Abdulla Shahid (R) on March 17, 2019. (Photo/Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

The governments of Maldives and India have signed three key agreements.

The three agreements were signed on behalf of the Indian government by Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj during her current two-day visit to Maldives last Sunday.

The three agreements exchanged were:

Agreement on Visa Facilitation for Diplomatic and Official Passport Holders
Agreement on Development Cooperation
Agreement on Renewable Energy

The exchange of the three agreements has been hailed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives as an addition of “new dimensions to age old ties” between Maldives and India.

#India and #Maldives add new dimensions to age old ties by exchanging 3 agreements in the presence of FM @abdulla_shahid and ???????? External Affairs Minister @SushmaSwaraj on visa facilitation for diplomatic & official passport holders, development cooperation, and renewable energy pic.twitter.com/LFslM20B44
— MFA Maldives (@MDVForeign) March 17, 2019

Swaraj, last Sunday, took part in a joint ministerial to discuss cooperation on a wide range of fields such as health, economy, defense, and business and capacity development.

Swaraj and her Maldivian counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives, Abdulla Shahid, also engaged in bilateral discussions last Sunday.

The relationship between Maldives and India is indeed special!
Minister @sushmaswaraj and I held discussions today, on a wide range of issues. Very pleased on the progress made on the commitments announced during State Visit of President @Ibusolih pic.twitter.com/xOwOc62dPX
— Abdulla Shahid ???? (@abdulla_shahid) March 17, 2019

Following the meeting, Shahid announced that the discussions had been productive and that he was “very pleased with the progress made on the commitments” announced by the Indian government during President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s state visit to India in December.

Swaraj has also called on the Speaker of Parliament, Qasim Ibrahim, and is scheduled to call on President Solih later this Monday.