Male: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday graced the Independence Day celebrations of the Maldives as the guest of honour.
Modi was warmly welcomed at the iconic Republic Square in this Maldivian capital.
The prime minister landed in Male on Friday on a two-day visit primarily to attend the Independence Day celebrations of the Indian Ocean archipelago.
During this two-day visit by the Indian Prime Minister, both nations signed several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) to deepen cooperation in various sectors.
Prime Minister Modi has expressed his heartfelt thanks to President Muizzu, the Government and people of the Maldives for their warmth and said that he was deeply honoured to have witnessed the 60th Independence Day celebrations.
“As I conclude this productive visit to the Maldives, I extend my heartfelt thanks to President Muizzu, the Government and people of the Maldives for their warmth. I am deeply honoured to have witnessed the 60th Independence Day celebrations,” wrote PM Modi on X.
He also said that the talks held with Maldivian President Muizzi will add significant energy to relations between the two nations.
“The productive talks with President Muizzu will add significant energy to our bilateral relations,” he added.
During his visit, PM Modi signed an agreement to extend a new Line of Credit (LoC) worth Rs 4,850 crore to the Maldives. Apart from this, an amendatory agreement was signed to reduce the Maldives’ annual debt repayment obligations on previous Indian-funded LoCs, providing further financial relief to the nation.
Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) signed between the two nations include agreements on fisheries and aquaculture, meteorological collaboration between India’s Institute of Tropical Meteorology and the Maldives Meteorological Services aong with the sharing of scalable digital governance solutions to promote digital transformation.
Furthermore, a network-level agreement was concluded between NPCI International Payments Limited and the Maldives Monetary Authority to bring India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to the Maldives, strengthening financial connectivity.
