The Maldives and India have held discussions focused on the immense and expanding India-Maldives defence cooperation in the past three years. The discussions took place during a courtesy call on Minister of Defence Mariya Didi by the Defence Secretary of India Dr. Ajay Kumar.
During the meeting held at the Ministry of Defence, Minister Mariya thanked India for the immense assistance provided during the COVID-19 pandemic with vaccine shipments, medical supplies, transportation of food supplies, humanitarian assistance and technical support for the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), with more than 170 medical evacuations and 130 surveillance missions conducted in the past couple of years. She expressed deep appreciation for the development of the Coast Guard Dockyard, which is set to be the most comprehensive defence infrastructure development project carried out in the Maldives.
Meanwhile, the defence secretary noted the Government of India was committed to further boosting the India-Maldives partnership.