Maldives Defence Force Chief Maj Gen Abdulla Shamaal conferred with Guard of Honor at New Delhi

New Delhi, Jul 28: Maldives National Defence Force Chief, Major General Abdulla Shamaal received a Guard of Honour in the national capital on Thursday (Jul 28). He visited India to strengthen the bilateral ties and defence cooperation between the two countries.

 

 

 

 

Maldives is more than just India's foremost development partner in South Asia but also a reliable and trustworthy defence, more so since defence partnership is emerging critical to maintaining peace and stability in the Southern Indian Ocean Region. There have been several high-level defence visits between the two countries. Earlier, Indian Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral R Hari Kumar visited the Maldives to strengthen the ties between both countries to maintain security in the Indian Ocean Region.

 

 

 

 

 

Development cooperation has been an imperative pillar of the Indo - Maldives relationship. New Delhi has provided Lines of Credit of over USD 1.2 billion for infrastructure development besides several grants for community development projects in the island nation. Since 1988, defence and security have been major areas of cooperation between India and the Maldives. This cooperation extends to assisting the Maldives with defence training and equipment requirements. India provides the largest number of training opportunities for MNDF personnel, meeting almost 70 per cent of their defence training requirements, POREG reported.

 

 

Apart from defence and security partnerships, India and Maldives have in recent times expanded their strategic cooperation including focusing on counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency. India and Maldives share common perspectives on maritime security issues in the Indian Ocean and have been working together closely in several bilateral, mini-lateral and multilateral fora such as the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium and the Colombo Security Conclave. India's "Neighborhood First" policy and Maldives' "India First" policy work in tandem to tackle shared concerns and advance mutual interests.