Maldives' Defence Minister Mohammed Ghassan Maumoon will be on a three-day visit to India from Wednesday to strengthen military ties amid a thaw in the overall relations between the two nations. This visit comes nearly after eight months New Delhi completed pulling out its military personnel from the island country.
Maumoon will hold wide-ranging talks with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh besides meeting several senior officials in the national capital.
India had withdrawn its around 80 military personnel stationed in the Indian Ocean archipelago following a demand by its pro-China President Mohamed Muizzu.
The Indian military personnel were in the Maldives to maintain and operate two military platforms. They were replaced by Indian civilian staff.
The overall episode had significantly frayed the ties between the two nations.
"Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will hold a bilateral meeting with the Defence Minister of Maldives Mohammed Ghassan Maumoon in New Delhi on January 8," the defence ministry said.
It said the two ministers will review the various facets of bilateral defence cooperation including training, exercises, and defence projects to enhance the capability of the Maldives National Defence Forces as well as supply of defence equipment.
"The Maldives occupies a special place in India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy, which aims to bring stability and prosperity in the Indian Ocean Region," it said in a statement.
"Both nations are key players in maintaining the safety and security of IOR, thus contributing to India's vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR)," the ministry said.
The Maldivian defence minister will also visit Goa and Mumbai.
His visit comes days after Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Khaleel visited India and held wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
In the meeting held on January 3, Jaishankar described the Maldives as a "very concrete" expression of India's neighbourhood first policy and said that New Delhi has always stood by the island nation.
"We have increased our engagement in various sectors and I do want to say that India has always stood by Maldives. For us, you are a very concrete expression of our neighbourhood first policy," the external affairs minister had said.
The ties between India and the Maldives came under severe strain after Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, took charge of the top office in November 2023. Within hours of his oath, he had demanded the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from his country. Subsequently, the Indian military personnel were replaced by civilians.
There was a thaw in the relations as Muizzu vowed to boost the bilateral ties with India during his visit to Delhi in October.
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