Amid a clampdown on the “India Out” protests sponsored by the Maldivian Opposition, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Sunday handed over a slew of Indian projects in the archipelagic nation’s southern-most atoll of Addu where New Delhi wants to set up a consulate but appears to have put those plans on hold in deference to the sentiments of the Solih government in Maldives.
Though there was no mention of setting up the Indian consulate in Addu at any of Jaishankar’s public engagements, all the events were in the strategically located atoll the British had used as strategic outpost in the Indian Ocean for the Allied powers against Japan in World War II.
Jaishankar’s meeting with his Maldivian counterpart, Abdulla Shahid, on Saturday night was also in Addu. “You’ve made history, Minister @DrSJaishankar! This is the first time official talks have been held out of the Capital City Male. Fortifying & building on the long-standing Maldives-India ties is one of the top foreign policy priorities of President Solih’s administration,’’ Shahid tweeted.
You’ve made history, Minister @DrSJaishankar!
— Abdulla Shahid (@abdulla_shahid) March 26, 2022
This is the first time official talks have been held out of the Capital City Male’.
Fortifying & building on the long-standing-
ties is one of the top foreign policy priorities of President Solih’s administration. pic.twitter.com/yYHcyrKFj2
On Sunday, Shahid accompanied Jaishankar to various ceremonies; the chief of which — inauguration of the National College for Policing and Law Enforcement (NCPLE) — was attended by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih who has been trying to balance out the pro-China tilt of his predecessor; earning his dispensation the charge of selling out to India.
Solih said talks on setting up the Addu Police College had begun in 2009; acknowledging the role played by three of his predecessors in completing the project for which the agreement was signed in 2012.
The two countries on Sunday signed an agreement between the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy of India and the Maldives Police Service to help NCPLE with its training programme.
Jaishankar also participated in the formal ground-breaking of the Addu Roads Project, witnessed the signing of the $80 million contract for the Addu Reclamation and Shore-Protection project, besides commissioning several high-impact projects India is setting up for island communities.
India’s announcement last May that it would set up a consulate in Addu had triggered protests across the nation.
