Official talks between the government of Maldives and government of India have been held this afternoon, as part of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s current State Visit to India. President Solih chaired the Maldives’ side while Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the Indian side. The talks were held at Hyderabad House, New Delhi.

Discussions were held on a vast array of areas where existing ties could be further developed. While highlighting the close bilateral relations between the Maldives and India, President Solih and Prime Minister Modi expressed their hopes to continue working closely in all areas of bilateral cooperation, to take the relationship to a higher level.

Following the delegation level talks between the Maldives and India, 4 key documents were exchanged between the governments of both countries.

The four key documents exchanged were;

1.    Agreement on the Facilitation of Visa Arrangements 

2.    Memorandum of Understanding on Cultural Cooperation

3.    Memorandum of Understanding for establishing Mutual Cooperation to Improve the Ecosystem for Agribusiness

4.    Joint Declaration of Intent on Cooperation in the field of Information, and Communications Technology and Electronics

Afterwards, President Solih and Prime Minister Modi delivered the joint statement on the occasion of the State Visit of President Solih to India.

Following which, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a lunch in honor of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and First Lady Fazna Ahmed. 

President Solih and the First Lady are being hosted at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, as special guests of the Indian President Ram Nath Kovind. This is President Solih’s first State Visit.