President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Monday reiterated the Maldives' support for India's candidature for permanent membership of the United Nations (UN) Security Council.
According to the Joint Statement released on the president's ongoing three-day state visit to India, President Solih assured Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of Maldives' continued support for India's candidature for both permanent membership on the Security Council as well as non-permanent seat for the year 2010-21.
Nations contesting to become permanent members of the UN Security Council include Brazil, Germany and Japan in addition to India.
Following the president's meetings with Modi on Monday, President Solih further shared that he has extended invitations to the prime minister and Indian President Ram Nath Kovind to visit Maldives next year. Local media Mihaaru reports that Modi, who attended President Solih's inauguration in November this year, has accepted the invitation.
President Solih stated that he held extensive discussions with Modi on enhancing bilateral relations between Maldives and India in various areas, including regional security, maritime security, counter terrorism measures, and cooperation to combat drug and human trafficking.
This marks President Solih's first state visit since he assumed office. During the visit, the president signed four agreements with India, namely the Agreement on the Facilitation of Visa Arrangements, Memorandum of Understanding on Cultural Cooperation, Memorandum of Understanding for establishing Mutual Cooperation to Improve the Ecosystem for Agribusiness, and Joint Declaration of Intent on Cooperation in the field of Information, and Communications Technology and Electronics.
Modi also announced that India will establish a credit facility of USD 1.4 billion in Maldives, which the Maldives' Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer has disclosed comprises of free aid and loans as budget support, funds for government projects, and currency swap.
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