External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar is scheduled to visit Maldives and Mauritius in the upcoming week for reviewing the bilateral ties and development cooperation, particularly about the initiatives for assisting the Indian Ocean states to overcome the impact of Covid-19.
As the travelling restrictions were relaxing a little, Jaishankar had visited Sri Lanka in the month of January and according to the plans, Jaishankar will be visiting Bangladesh scheduled for March 4 for building the grounds for the visit ti be expected by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Indian states have taken up the ‘Neighbourhood First” policy, where Maldives have been one of the major beneficiaries of initiatives taken by India to support the nearby countries to battle through the pandemic. In 2020, India had given a budgetary support of $250 million to the Maldives and an additional sum of $500 million for the Greater Male Connectivity Project.
Jaishankar will be visiting Maldives amid February 20-21 and will be having a round of meetings with President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and the ministers having charge of foreign affairs, defence, economic development, finance, planning and infrastructure.
Jaishankar will also be having a discussion with Speaker Mohamed Nasheed, who is in constant support of better ties with India and schedule meeting with political leaders.
The External Affairs Ministry said, “During this visit, [Jaishankar] will review the entire gamut of our bilateral ties as well as progress of ongoing bilateral projects and hold discussions on the ongoing Covid-19 situation, including India’s continued assistance to the Maldives for its post-Covid economic recovery.”
Amid his visit to Mauritius on February 22-23, he will be having a meeting with President Pritivirajsing Roopun and Prime Minister Pravind Jagnauth along with foreign minister Alan Ganoo. The objective of the visits is to review the bilateral ties, regional and global issues and also about India’s assistance to Mauritius.
