In a big diplomatic triumph for India, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar along with his Maldivian counterpart Moosa Zameer inaugurated India's Line of Credit (LoC)-assisted project of water and sewerage network in 28 islands of Maldives, during the former's visit to the country. Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu was also present at the inauguration event. This comes after the ties of the two countries hit a new low earlier this year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Lakshadweep, following which a Maldivian leader used 'derogatory' words against him, leading to the conflicts between the two neighbouring countries.
In addition, Mohamed Muizzu took over as the President of the Maldives riding on the 'India out' campaign and carrying a pro-China stance. However, President Muizzu on Monday, i.e.
, August 12, reaffirmed his committment to strengthening the ties with India. While emphasising that India has always been one of the closest allies and invaluable partners, facilitating and providing aid whenever the Maldives needed it, the President extended deep gratitute to Prime Minister Modi and the people of India for their consistent assistance to the country. India-Maldives sign several MoUs focussed on capacity building and more: India and Maldives, in an effort towards improving the bilateral ties, signed several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) focused on capacity building.
EAM Jaishankar also signed an MoU with Maldives focused on agreements for the capacit.