India and Maldives have together expressed their commitment to upholding international law and rules based international order and to work together to address common security challenges.
At the end of three day visit, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Maldivian Counterpart Defence Minister Ms Mariya Didi reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability & security in the region.
The bilateral level talks between the two ministers focused on further strengthening the longstanding partnership between the two countries and further deepening of cooperation in security and defence domains.
India and Maldives Defence Cooperation is becoming stronger as there are more joint exercises as well as exchanges of visits by military officials. Both ministers during talks agreed to explore more avenues for cooperation in capacity building, defence trade and joint exercises and to promote people to people contacts. And the ministers agreed to share best practices and expertise in maritime and cyber security, counter terrorism, and disaster management.
Defence minister Singh had also paid a courtesy call on the President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and had a meeting with Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid.
According to the joint statement issued at the end of the visit, in the presence of the President of Maldives Solih, Singh and his counterpart Didi attended the ceremony for the commissioning of the replacement ship for Huravee. It has been reported earlier that during the recent visit of President Solih, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the provision of the replacement ship for the aging Huravee. India has also gifted MNDF an additional Landing Craft. According to the statement this is in line with India’s vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region).
Before leaving for India, the two ministers witnessed the laying of the foundation stone for the MNDF Coast Guard ‘Ekatha Harbour’. The Coastguard harbor and repair facility at Sifavaru, is one of the biggest grant-in-aid projects of India in the island nation.