India, Maldives to give fresh momentum to bilateral ties

India and Maldives had another occasion to reinforce their ties with minister of state for External Affairs M.J. Akbar's two-day visit to the island nation which concluded on Wednesday. Akbar met with Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom as well as Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamed Asim.

The two countries reviewed the entire gamut of engagements and agreed to give fresh momentum to the relationship. Though Maldives is a small country, it is of importance to India given its location in the Indian Ocean—an area over which India is spreading its influence.

Maldives adopted an India First policy last year, which meant that among other things, India would be the first country it would approach whenever there was the need of a developmental project. India has supported Maldives through several recent projects, including a crucial institutional mechanism to address terror and radicalism, for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sent a special envoy.

Maldives was among the first countries to sign the agreement for the South Asian satellite, which India will be launching next month.

Maldives' India First policy, however needs to be continuously nurtured, given shifting geopolitics. India has not forgotten how Maldives gave the contract to develop an airport to a Chinese firm after cancelling the deal with the India-based GMR. The island country has on several occasions made it clear that its developmental needs are great and it is free to reach out to any global player which can help it.