India and Maldives sign four agreements

India and Maldives have agreed over four MOUs during the visit of India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla to Maldives. The four MOUs were signed for cooperation in sports and youth affairs; connectivity project, setting of plant and soil testing labs.

Four Agreements between India and Maldives

• One of the four MoUs was signed for the grant of $100 million by India for the Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP). This project will link Maldives capital Male with three islands. The total cost of this GMCP project is $500 million. Rest $400 million for the project will also be provided by India. This agreement was signed with the Foreign Minister of Maldives, Abdulla Shahid.
• The second agreement signed between the two countries is to set up a plant and soil testing laboratory with a grant of 1.71 million Maldivian rufiyaas.
• The third agreement has been signed for the establishment of a drug detox facility with another grant of 7.7 million Maldivian rufiyaas.
• The fourth MOU was signed to increase cooperation in the field of sports and youth affairs between both the countries.

Maldives is the sixth country visited by the foreign secretary after the restrictions due to COVID-19. Harsh Vardhan Shringla was on a 2-day visit to Maldives. Other five countries visited by Shringla after COVID-19 are- the UK, Myanmar, Bangladesh, France and Germany. Shringla and Maldives Foreign Secretary also had talks about the economic recovery after the impact of pandemic, speeding up the implementation of the ongoing cooperation projects, promoting tourism, etc.

These MOUs will help to improve the relations between the two countries. Maldives tourism industry has been greatly affected by COVID-19 and because of this India provided a loan of $250 million to the country in September 2020. The Indian foreign secretary appreciated the “India First” policy of Maldives and also said that it is strongly reciprocated by India through “Neighborhood first” policy.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2020