India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday that Maldives is ‘no ordinary neighbor’ of India. He stressed that the new India will continue to work on it and find practical ways to express friendship with the Maldives. Jaishankar, while interacting with the Indian diaspora living in the Maldives during his three-day official visit, also told how India values its diaspora and what influence members of Indian origin have around the world.
Jaishankar’s visit is the first high-level visit from India aimed at re-establishing bilateral relations after President Mohammad Muizzu took office.
’27 thousand migrants in Maldives…’
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According to the Indian Embassy in Maldives, the number of Indian expatriate community in the country is around 27 thousand. They have a strong presence in the health and education sector. There are Indian un-skilled workers there and most of them are engaged in the construction sector.
According to the agency, Jaishankar met President Muizzu before the Pravasi program. Apart from this, he emphasized New Delhi’s commitment to further strengthen India-Maldives relations for the benefit of the people of both countries and the region. He virtually inaugurated a huge water and sanitation project costing US $ 110 million on behalf of India on 28 islands and handed it over to the Maldives. This project covers seven percent of the population of Maldives.
‘We have SAGAR policy…’
Jaishankar said, “Today, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we are adopting the policy of ‘Neighbor First’. We pay a lot of attention to the countries of the Indian Ocean. We have a policy called SAGAR but I definitely want to say that Maldives is not just an ordinary neighbor.”
He said that the proof of this is actually in our history. Today, in many of my meetings with the Maldivian side, ministers or high officials reminded me of our (India’s) participation, our contribution in the events of November 1988, which is very important.
Jaishankar also spoke on other issues such as the 2004 tsunami, the water crisis in Male and the recent Covid-19 vaccination. He said that in many cases our closeness, our friendship, our relationship has emerged from very practical things. Things that are appreciated and remembered and valued.
Jaishankar said, “So when we talk about relations, it should be understood that the relationship between two people, countries and the feelings are also personal. People remember, you know, when you were with them in difficult times. Relations with Maldives are very important. We will continue to work on improving it. We will find practical ways to express our friendship.”
Talking about Indian immigrants, he said that there are about 3.5 crore NRIs and PIOs across the world. India is the doctor who has treated them. India is the teacher who has educated them. India is the engineer who has worked with them.
He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, a lot of attention is being paid to the value given to India by the Indian community all over the world. The reason behind this is that people all over the world adopt personal experience. This is something that you have done, the contribution you have made, the relations you have.
Talking about the new demographic reality, he said, “If you look at global demographics, definitely in the next five to 10 years, more and more businesses in the world will be working with Indians and they will be working responsibly.”
After Jaishankar’s speech, members of the expatriate community present on the occasion expressed their difficulties and demanded India’s intervention to resolve the issues. India’s Mission Head in Male, Munu Mahavar was also present on this occasion.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)