India “handed over defence equipment and stores to the Maldives” and Defence Ministers Rajnath Singh and Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon met in New Delhi Wednesday as the two countries moved to restore ties after a hiatus that spread rancour in the two capitals.
Singh and Maumoon held talks to “deepen defence cooperation”,“enhance capability of the Maldives National Defence Forces” and “add new vigour” to ties.
Maumoon, 44, is the younger son of former Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who ruled the country for three decades. He had served in the Presidency of his uncle, Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, as State minister at the President’s office and later at Social Affairs. Yameen led the ‘India Out’ campaign which eventually brought Mohamed Muizzu to power in November 2023, and ties with India headed south shortly thereafter.
This visit by Ghassan Maumoon is crucial since this is the first Defence Minister-level meeting after Indian defence personnel, managing and maintaining aviation platforms gifted by India, were withdrawn from the Maldives last year.
The two sides, sources said, also discussed extending the lease of aviation platforms expiring this year – two Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH), gifted by India, are being used by the Maldives for medical evacuation purposes.
They also discussed the frequent docking of foreign vessels in Maldivian maritime territory and the implications of permissions granted to the vessels by foreign agencies, including the Chinese.
Delhi has always been concerned about the presence of a large number of Chinese vessels in its periphery and wants Male to exercise caution while granting them permission.
There was also conversation on maritime security and the need for real-time information-sharing between the two defence and security establishments.
During the discussions, the Indian side also urged the Maldivians to take forward the ‘Ekatha’ harbour project at Uthuru Thila Falhu (UTF) atoll – it is among the biggest Indian grant-in-aid projects in the Maldives. The project was announced during External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit in February 2021. Rajnath Singh and his then Maldivian counterpart, Mariya Didi, laid the foundation stone in May 2023.
The development of this naval facility, other than boosting its maritime security capability, will allow the Maldives to have a maintenance and repair hub for naval vessels.
Sources said the meeting between the Defence Ministers should be seen as a “confidence building measure”.
After the meeting, Singh, in a post on X, said, “Held fruitful talks with Maldives Defence Minister Mr Mohammed Ghassan Maumoon in New Delhi. Several issues pertaining to deepening defence cooperation were discussed which would also help in enhancing the capability of the Maldives National Defence Force. Today’s discussions will add new vigour to India-Maldives relations.”
The Ministry of Defence, in a statement, said they “comprehensively reviewed various aspects of bilateral defence and security cooperation”.
“During the talks, both sides reasserted the firm commitment to work closely in realising the joint vision for India-Maldives Comprehensive Economic and Maritime Security Partnership.”
It said Singh reaffirmed “India’s readiness to support the Maldives in capability enhancement for defence preparedness, including provisioning of defence platforms and assets to augment its capacities, as per its national priorities and in line with New Delhi’s ‘Neighborhood First’ policy and the vision of SAGAR (Security And Growth for All in the Region)”.
“Minister Maumoon appreciated India’s historical role as the ‘First Responder’ for the Maldives, and thanked New Delhi for assisting Male in augmenting the modern infrastructural capacities and training of defence and security personnel. On the Government of Maldives’ request, India handed over defence equipment and stores to the Maldives,” it said.
Maumoon’s visit “has provided an opportunity to further deepen the bilateral defence and security ties for the mutual benefit of the two countries and the Indian Ocean Region”, it said.
A joint statement issued after President Mohamed Muizzu’s visit to New Delhi in October last year had said “the two countries agreed that India, as a trusted and dependable partner, will work closely with Maldives in sharing of expertise, augmenting capabilities and undertake joint cooperative measures, as per needs and requirements of Maldives”. They had also agreed on training and capacity-building of the Maldives National Defence Force. (IE)
