India and Maldives discuss bilateral defence ties

NEW DELHI, INDIA:  Defence minister of Maldives, Colonel Mohamed Nazim met India’s foreign minister, Salman Khurshid in New Delhi on Tuesday (April 16) with an aim to strengthen bilateral and military ties.

This is the first visit by a senior Maldivian minister to India after the recent political turbulence there due to a tussle between the current government and former president Mohammed Nasheed.

The Maldivian Defence minister hailed the close bilateral relations between both the countries.

India’s defence minister, Arackaparambil Kurien Antony had during his visit to Male last year in September invited his Maldivian counterpart for an official visit.

This year in February, former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed left the Indian High Commission, his party said, after taking refuge for 11 days to avoid arrest on charges related to his presidency.

In a statement issued by the Indian High Commission in Colombo, it was stated that Nasheed “entered the Indian Mission in Male on 13 February 2013 on his own volition and had similarly decided to leave on his own.”