India always stood by Maldives: EAM Jaishankar

India and the Maldives have finalised a framework to promote the use of local currencies for cross border trade with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar asserting that New Delhi has always stood by the island nation.

Jaishankar made the remarks at a meeting with his Maldivian counterpart Abdulla Khaleel in Delhi.

Khaleel arrived here on Thursday on a three-day visit to explore ways to bolster bilateral ties in several key areas including maritime security, trade and investment.

“I see that the framework to promote the use of local currencies for cross border transaction has been signed,” Jaishankar said.

“We have increased our engagement in various sectors and I do want to say that India has always stood by the Maldives. You are a very concrete expression of our neighbourhood first policy,” he added.

The Maldives is one of India’s key maritime neighbours in the Indian Ocean Region and the overall bilateral ties including in areas of defence and security witnessed an upward trajectory under the previous government in Male.

The ties between India and the Maldives came under severe strain after Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, took charge of the top office in November 2023.

Within hours of his oath, he had demanded the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from his country. Subsequently, the Indian military personnel were replaced by civilians.

However, there was a thaw in the relations as Muizzu vowed to boost the bilateral ties with India during his visit to Delhi in October.