Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla arrived in Maldives on Sunday, on the invitation of Maldivian Foreign Secretary Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed.
This marks Shringla’s first official visit to Maldives, since he was appointed as Foreign Secretary on January 29, 2020.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Secretary counterparts will discuss ongoing projects in Maldives and the conclusions drawn at the joint commission meeting held at New Delhi last December.
The High Commission of India revealed that Foreign Secretary would sign multiple agreements through the course of his visit. These include a USD 100 million grant to partially finance the Greater Male’ Connectivity Project (GMCP) as well as two Memoranda of Agreement to execute high-impact community development projects (HICDPs) in Maldives.
Additionally, Secretary Shringla will join a ceremony to hand over equipment to establish children’s parks across 67 islands across Maldives and visit the site of Ekuveni running track in the capital city of Male’, which was funded through Indian grant assistance.
During the two-day visit, Shringla is also scheduled to meet President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed, Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid, Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer, Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail, Minister of National Planning Mohamed Aslam, Minister of Defence Mariya Ahmed Didi and Minister of Tourism Dr Abdulla Mausoom.
Prior to Shringla’s arrival, United State’s (US) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Maldives last month, marking the first time in 16 years that a US Secretary of State paid an official visit to the island nation.
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