Maldives and India have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)s on providing assistance to the Elections Commission and Financial Intelligence Unit of Maldives. The MoUs were signed at the Sixth Maldives-India Joint Commission Meeting, held in India yesterday.
Three major agreements were signed between the two countries during the joint commission meeting. The first agreement was an MoU of cooperation between the Elections Commissions of Maldives and India. Vice President of the Elections Commission of Maldives Ahmed Akram signed the agreement on behalf of the commission.
The second agreement was on providing Indian assistance to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA). The two countries also exchanged the Instrument of Ratification for the recently signed Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty on criminal matters.
In addition to these agreements, the two countries also agreed to conduct the next joint commission meeting in Maldives in 2021.
The Maldives-India Joint Commission was established in 1986 to promote bilateral cooperation between the two countries across various sectors. The sixth joint commission meeting was co-chaired by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives Abdulla Shahid and Minister of External Affairs of India Dr. S. Jaishankar.
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.