Close ties with neighbours are of great value: MEA Jaishankar to Maldivian counterpart

NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar told his visiting Maldivian counterpart Moosa Zameer that the world is today passing through a volatile and uncertain period and, in such times, like during Covid, natural disasters and economic difficulties, close partnerships with neighbours are of great value.

“It is in our common interest that we reach an understanding on how best we take our relationship forward,” he said, as they discussed additional avenues for taking forward the ties.

He recalled before Zameer that India has been a key provider of development assistance to the Maldives, including financial help on favourable terms. Maldivian Prez Mohamed Muizzu has sought leniency from India for repayment of loans taken by previous govts and the issue figured in the meeting.

Thursday’s meeting between Jaishankar and Zameer took place a day before May 10 deadline set by Male for the withdrawal of Indian troops who were operating Indian naval choppers and an aircraft in the Maldives.

Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed later in the day that the process of appointing “competent Indian technical personnel” to keep running these aviation platforms, which are crucial for evacuation and other humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) activities, has been completed. After some intense diplomatic negotiations , India had acquiesced to the replacement of military personnel with civilian staff.

Removal of Indian military personnel dominated Muizzu’s campaign agenda in the run-up to the presidential polls and it’s significant the first high-level bilateral visit from the Maldives to India coincided with the fulfilment of his poll promise.

“As close and proximate neighbours, the development of our ties is obviously based on mutual interests and reciprocal sensitivity. As far as India is concerned, these are articulated in terms of our Neighbourhood First policy and SAGAR vision ,” said Jaishankar, hoping that the meeting will enable them to strengthen convergence of perspectives in various domains.

Jaishankar’s emphasis on reciprocal sensitivity is significant as it suggests the Indian Ocean neighbour cannot expect the relationship to be driven by unilateral concessions alone. Welcoming Zameer, he said the visit was an opportunity to discuss the relationship and chart out future directions.

“Our projects have benefited the people of your country; contributed to the quality of life. They range from infrastructure projects and social initiatives to medical evacuation and health facilities. India has been a first responder on numerous occasions for Maldives,” said Jaishankar, adding bilateral cooperation had also enhanced the security and well-being of the Maldives through shared activities, equipment provisioning, capacity building and training.