Maldives-India discuss strengthening defense cooperation

Maldivian Defense Minister Ghassan Maumoon and his Indian counterpart Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has held discussions on Wednesday regarding discuss strengthening defense cooperation between the two natons.

Minister Ghassan received a red carpet welcome in India upon his arrival at the neighboring nation on an official visit. He was received in New Delhi by Singh where he was awarded a ‘Guard of Honor’.

A meeting was held between both ministers following this.

India’s Defense Ministry reported that both ministers comprehensively reviewed various aspects of bilateral defense and security cooperation and reasserted the firm commitment to work closely in realizing the joint vision for India-Maldives Comprehensive Economic and Maritime Security Partnership.

Minister Singh also affirmed India’s readiness to support the Maldives in capability enhancement for defense preparedness, including provisioning of defense platforms and assets to augment its capacities, as per its national priorities and in line with New Delhi’s ‘Neighborhood First’ policy and the vision of SAGAR (Security And Growth for All in the Region).

Meanwhile, Minister Ghassan appreciated India’s historical role as the ‘first responder’ for the Maldives, and thanked New Delhi for assisting Male in augmenting the modern infrastructural capacities and training of defense and security personnel. 

Notably, this marks Ghassan’s first official visit to India in the capacity of Defense Minister.

The visit comes after Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Khaleel visited India on an official visit last week.

Relations between Male’ and New Delhi had been strained in the early days of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s presidency after he demanded that India withdraw its troops from Maldives – executing a pledge he made during his presidential campaign. According to the Maldivian government, the troops have been replaced by civil staff.

Things escalated further after three Maldivian deputy ministers made disparaging remarks regarding India and Indian Prime Minister Modi following a social media post promoting India’s Lakshadweep as an alternative tourist destination to the Maldives.

The Maldives Foreign Ministry was quick to distance itself from the remarks, saying that they do not represent the views of the Male’ government. The three junior ministers were suspended, and two of them later resigned.

But despite the earlier turmoil, officials from both Male’ and Delhi repeatedly expressed keenness to maintain relations and engaged in several high-level visits between the two countries. Subsequently, relations between the neighboring nations have stabilized.