New Delhi: The visit by Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu to India aims at building on the the strong and extensive foundation of relations between New Delhi and Male and charting out new frontiers of engagement between the two countries, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Monday.

Highlighting the incidents of 1998 attempted coup, 2004 tsunami, 2014 water crisis in Maldives, Misri noted that India has always been the first responder for the island nation in any crisis situation.

"This is a very age-old relationship, a historic relationship and it has a number of very substantive pillars, trade, economic, developmental, people-to-people linkages, defence and security also being a part of this. Our attempt in this visit is actually to try and reinforce this already strong relationship that is there and build on the numerous mutual shared concerns and interests that are there. India is one of the largest trade and development partners of the Maldives," Foreign Secretary Misri said in a special briefing on Monday.

"We are making progress on several development projects in the Maldives and today there was recognition by both leaders of the importance of this relationship especially in view of the geographical proximity that exists between the two countries and the many ways in which the relationship is mutually beneficial. We are continuing the relationship that is already strong and that has been on a positive trajectory now as well and that is how we intend to move," he added.

Notably, this the first bilateral visit by Maldives President Muizzu to India. He earlier visited India during Prime Minister Modi's swearing-in ceremony in June this year.

"India has always very importantly been the first responder to any crisis in Maldives, whether it be the attempted coup in 1988, the tsunami in 2004, the Male water crisis in 2014 or the COVID19 pandemic a few years ago," the Foreign Secretary said.

He elbaorated on President Muizzu's visit to India, who arrived with First Lady Sajidha Mohamed for five-day visit on Sunday. Muizzu's delegation will also visit Agra tomorrow, followed by Mumbai. It will conclude with the visit to Bengaluru.

Earlier in the day, he was accorded a ceremonial welcome in the forecourt of Rashpati Bhavan by the President Murmu, PM Modi and other delegates. This was followed by the president's visit to Rajghat to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi.

Maldives President and Prime Minister Modi held bilateral discussions at the Hyderabad House in the national capital.

Discussing about the developmental cooperation between the two neighbours, Misri said, "We have contributed to the development of Maldives through a mix of small and large development projects and extensive suite of capacity building and training initiatives and also from time to time provided signficant financial assitance to enable Maldives to tide over economic challenges based on the request and priorities of Maldives."

"As two neighbours in a very important maritime neighbourhood, the two countries are also working together to address challenges related to maritime terrorism, piracy, drug trafficking, and a host of other issues," he added.

Further being asked about India-Maldives relationship, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, "Main apne jawaab mein sirf yeh keh deta hoon ki yaarana jaari rahega (I would just say the friendship would continjue."

India today granted cash-strapped Maldives a USD 100 million Treasury bills roll over. Additionally, the two nations also inked a USD 400 million and Rs 3,000 crore currency swap agreement.

Foreign Secretary Misri said that the purpose of the agreement is to bolster the foreign exchange reserves of Maldives, and send out a signal of comfort and confidence in the existing foreign exchange position for Maldives.

"As far as the currency swap agreement is concerned, it has two elements. There is the element to allow Maldives to avail USD 400 million window and a separate INR 30 billion window under this. The idea is essentially to bolster Maldives foreign exchange reserves. It generates confidence in the Maldives existing foreign exchange position and allows them to enter into deals or discussions where they require this enhanced foreign exchange that they can draw on," Misri said.

"The idea is to send out a signal of comfort and confidence in the existing foreign exchange position for Maldives. The agreement has been signed and exchanged today. As to the vision document, it clearly talks about developing a comprehensive economic and maritime security partnership. There are a number of elements in this that will need to be worked upon as we go into the future, but this itself signifies the ambition that is there for the relationship in the coming years," he added.

The Reserve Bank of India has entered into a Currency Swap Agreement with the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) under the SAARC Currency Swap Framework 2024-27, on October 07, 2024, in New Delhi.

Under the agreement, the Maldives Monetary Authority is eligible for financing support from the Reserve Bank of India amounting to USD 400 million under the US Dollar/ Euro Swap Window and INR 30 billion under the INR Swap Window. The agreement would be valid till June 18, 2027, the RBI said in a release.

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