Mr Solih arrived in India on Monday for a four-day go to.
The 2 nations signed six agreements to spice up cooperation in a number of areas, together with catastrophe administration, cyber safety and reasonably priced housing.
India will lengthen a 100 million greenback (£81 million) line of credit score to the Maldives to help growth initiatives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated, after holding talks together with his counterpart, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
The 2 leaders additionally marked the beginning of building on the Higher Male Connectivity Venture, a 4.2-mile lengthy bridge and causeway funded by India that may join the nation’s capital, Male, to 3 different islands.
Each careworn the significance of shut ties between their two nations as important for peace and stability within the area.
“There was renewed vigour within the pleasant ties between India and Maldives. Our closeness has elevated,” Mr Modi stated, including that regardless of challenges sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic, cooperation between the 2 nations has strengthened.
Mr Solih stated the 2 leaders mentioned terrorism and the necessity to “improve maritime security and safety within the Indian Ocean area”.
Neither talked about China, however Mr Solih’s election in 2018 marked a shift from his predecessor, Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, who developed shut ties with Beijing in an space India considers as its yard.
India has been involved by Mr Yameen’s leaning in direction of China, which has sought to realize extra affect within the Indian Ocean. The previous president had pledged help for China’s Belt and Highway Initiative, with the nation investing in lots of infrastructure initiatives within the Maldives.
“The Maldives will all the time stay a real good friend of India,” Mr Solih stated on Tuesday, including that the connection between the 2 might be “of the best precedence”.
His go to follows an announcement that he’ll run for re-election in 2023.
Since coming to energy, the Maldivian president has touted his authorities’s “India-first coverage” and has pledged full help towards deepening ties with New Delhi.
