The sixth meeting of the Maldives-India Joint Commission was held today at the Ministry of External Affairs of India. Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid headed the Maldives delegation, and Minister of External Affairs of India Dr. S. Jaishankar headed the Indian delegation.
During the meeting, both ministers highlighted the renewed dynamism in bilateral and cooperative arrangements between the two countries. In this regard, the joint commission deliberated on several bilateral issues of importance to both countries, including security and defense cooperation, trade, economic cooperation, tourism, energy, agriculture and blue economy. The commission also deliberated on issues regarding development cooperation, connectivity, communication, ICT, health cooperation and human resource development, as well as education, culture, sports, youth affairs, consular and community issues, cooperation between foreign ministries and cooperation in multilateral fora.
Senior officials from fourteen ministries of the Government of Maldives participated and interacted with their counterpart officials in determining the way forward on several bilateral projects. It was agreed that the next session of the Joint Commission would be convened in 2021 in Maldives.
Following the meeting of the joint commission, two MoUs were also signed between the Elections Commission of Maldives and the Election Commission of India, and between the Financial Intelligence Units of Maldives and India. Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Ambassador of India to Maldives also exchanged the Instrument of Ratification for the recently signed Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty on criminal matters.