During his India visit, the Maldivian Minister will meet with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and hold discussions in deepening the India-Maldives longstanding partnership, the Maldives Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a release.
Chinese marine research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 3 returned to Maldivian waters late last month, marking its second visit to the archipelago nation within two months.
Notably, ties between India and the Maldives have been strained since Mohamed Muizzu assumed office, as he criticised New Delhi during and after the presidential polls.
The third meeting of the India-Maldives High-Level Core Group was held in Male on Sunday, where the two sides reviewed the ongoing deputation of Indian technical personnel to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian services to people of Maldives, the
Addressing a weekly press briefing in the national capital, MEA spokesperson Randir Jaiswal said, "We have had the first batch of technical personnel reach the Maldives, Male, to replace the existing personnel."
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu on Monday said that India and Maldives have agreed to send back the first group of Indian troops deployed in Maldives before March 10 this year.
During the meeting, the two nations continued their discussions on wide-ranging issues related to bilateral cooperation towards identifying steps to strengthen the partnership.
Taking to X, EAM Jaishankar shared about the meeting saying, "Met Maldives FM @MoosaZameer today in Kampala. A frank conversation on India-Maldives ties. Also discussed NAM-related issues."
Amid the ongoing row between India and the Maldives, the Chairperson of the Maldivian Democratic Party, Fayyaz Ismail has called for a "tougher stand" by the government, saying that the racist comments against India, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were just isolated individual opinions
Terming India as one of the closest neighbours and allies of the Maldives, MATI noted that India has always been a first responder to various crises throughout the history of the island country.