The President of the Republic of Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, and First Lady, Madam Fathimath Ibrahim, will visit India from January 1-4. During this visit, he will meet Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, among other officials. The President will be accompanied by Members of Parliament including Qasim Ibrahim, Leader of the Jumhooree Party and Ahmed Siyam Mohamed, Leader of the Maldives Development Alliance, among others.
The two sides are expected to discuss measures to resume several stalled projects such as the construction of a police academy on the island of Dhiffushimaadhoo and refurbishing the Indian-built Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Malé. During the visit, India is also expected to unfreeze the remainder of the $100 million Standby Credit Facility that was granted to the Maldives in 2011. The two sides are also expected to conclude bilateral agreements in the areas of health and visa facilitation.
This will be President Yameen’s maiden overseas visit after assuming office in November this year.
India and the Maldives share close bilateral and trade ties. India has extended economic and technical assistance to the Maldives in the areas of health, education, human resource development, infrastructure development, and capacity building. Bilateral ties suffered a major hiccup after the previous government in the Maldives terminated India’s Bangalore-based GMR group’s contract to develop the Malé International Airport in November 2012.