New Delhi: Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid on Wednesday said Maldives is not a battleground for anyone but a ground for everyone to come together. The minister said the country is a friend to all and enemy to none.

The Maldives Foreign Minister was responding to a question on Maldives being seen as a place where India and China are always competing.

“Maldives is not a battleground for anyone. Maldives is a ground for everyone to come together. The premises where we start is that we are friend to all and enemy to none,” Shahid said.

“Although we have the geographic reality of India as our next-door neighbour, the largest next-door neighbour, we are very happy that we have had an outstanding relationship with India,” Shahid further said.

The Maldives Foreign Minister said the relationship between the two countries has enormously flourished during Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s government.

"We have confidence in India that every time the Maldives has to dial international 911 on an emergency, India has always responded. Not only responded, but the first responder has always been India,” Shahid said.

Shahid said Maldives President Solih has India First Policy in his foreign policy. “And we are encouraged by the policy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Sagar Policy, the Neighborhood First Policy. This outstanding relationship has enormously flourished,” he said.

Abdulla Shahid on his India visit said: “Visiting Delhi is a pleasure. And the visit has been most constructive and productive. I met the external affairs minister yesterday during which we reviewed the ongoing development cooperation projects. Also, we exchanged views on international developments and issues that are close to both our countries.”

He said during the visit, nine MoUs were exchanged for high-impact development projects.

The two countries on Tuesday signed various MoUs on the development of a volley court, mental health unit, school digitalization project, upgrading hospitals and schools and preserving culture.

The Maldives Foreign Minister said India came to the country’s rescue during COVID.

The Maldives Foreign Minister said: “During the COVID pandemic when the entire world went into lockdown, India came to our rescue. There was an instance when our state trading organization, which imports all the medicines to the country had pre-ordered many of the required medicines, and they were in five different locations in India.”

“India was in lockdown, but then the Indian air force made sure that they collected from these different locations and flew all of them to Mali, delivering it. If this hadn't happened, then we wouldn't have been able to get our required essential medication,” he said.

Abdullah Shahid on Monday arrived in India for a two-day official visit.

Shahid on Tuesday interacted with the Non-Resident Ambassadors and High Commissioners accredited to Maldives based in New Delhi. Shahid said he discussed the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation and enhancing people-to-people contact.

Shahid spoke at length about climate change on Tuesday and said that everyone wants the small island states to be part of the debate on climate change.

During his address at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) in the national capital today, Abdulla Shahid said, "We intend to never give up because we can’t. Everyone who wants to speak about climate change, they want to speak on the small island state. They want us to be part of the debate."