Maldives President Solih to visit India in first week of August

Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih will visit India in the first week of August, a visit that is expected to have key outcomes in areas like connectivity, trade etc. He is likely to visit India on the 2nd and 3rd but the final plan is still taking shape. During India's visit, he will not only be in Delhi to hold political level talks but also visit India's financial capital Mumbai to meet with business leaders.

The last state visit to India by President Solih was in December of 2018, which was also his first foreign visit abroad after assuming office earlier that year. During that visit, New Delhi announced a financial assistance package of US$1.4 billion and also offered additional 1000 scholarships over the next 5 years. In fact, PM Modi also choose the Maldives as his first foreign destination in 2019 after his re-election.

The Maldivian President 2019 paid an unofficial visit to Bengaluru to discuss the contours of capacity building when it comes to cricket in the Maldives and the training of the Maldivian cricket team. He also toured the Chinnaswamy Stadium and visited the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Cricket diplomacy has been a key part of the ties, with New Delhi gifting cricket equipment worth Maldivian rufiyaa (MVR) 1 million to the cricket board of Maldives. Maldives National Men’s and Women’s cricket teams are being trained at the Centre for Sports Science in Chennai.

India and Maldives have seen increased engagement, including a high-level visit of External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar to the country and a visit of Maldives Foreign minister Abdulla Shahid to Delhi. The developmental partnership has been a key pillar of the ties. Under Indian grant assistance of MVR 260 million, 45 projects are being implemented across the country. The projects cover areas of socio-economic development including tourism, sustainable development, education, fisheries, and healthcare. Of these total 45 grant projects, a total of 17 projects have been completed and inaugurated.

Another area of cooperation has been connectivity. India is supporting the Greater Male Connectivity Project, the largest infrastructure project in the Indian ocean country through a Line of credit of USD 400 million and a grant of USD 100 million. This project aims to connect the national capital Male to Villingili, Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi islands through a series of bridges, causeways and roads.

Amid the covid crisis, under Operation Sanjeevani, the Indian air force special plane airlifted 6.2 tonnes of essential medical supplies from India to the Maldives in April 2020. A 14-member Rapid Response Medical team was deployed in the Maldives in March 2020 to train the Maldivian authorities and personnel in tackling the Corona threat. The country, along with Bhutan was the first set of countries to get India-made covid vaccines.