Chinese President Xi Jinping and Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on January 10, 2024. cnsphoto via Reuters
New Delhi, January 10
China and Maldives on Wednesday upgraded bilateral ties to a “Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership” and inked at least 20 “key agreements”.
The agreements were signed after China’s President Xi Jinping co-chaired with his Maldivian counterpart Mohamed Muizzu for bilateral talks at the Great Hall of People in Beijing, according to a statement by the Maldives President’s Office.
Muizzu is on a state visit to China from Monday to Friday even as Male and New Delhi engage in a bitter diplomatic spat that led to the suspension of three Maldivian junior Ministers for posting disparaging comments against Indians and PM Narendra Modi. South Block had also summoned the Maldivian envoy to inform him about the seriousness with which these comments were taken.
One of the MoUs aims to develop Maldives’ infrastructure which India had taken up in a big way during PM Modi’s tenure.
The agreement aims to look at the expansion of Velana International Airport, fisheries product processing factories and Male’ and VilliMale’ Road Development projects. Another MoU speaks of jointly accelerating the formulation of the cooperation plan on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Another MoU aims to enter into an area where India has had a presence in the Maldives but is being resented by Muizzu. This pertains to disaster risk reduction. India has maintained that its 87-strong military presence in the Maldives is to operate platforms that assist in emergency evacuation and disaster relief.
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