Your Excellency, Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid,
Distinguished officials, from both governments,
Local government, local council representatives,
Friends from the media,
Ladies and gentlemen.
Minister, let me begin by thanking you for the invitation for really conceptualizing this visit in a very different way than perhaps most formal visits of Foreign Ministers are done, and I am really very delighted to avail of invitation and be here today, and to join you at a location where I believe that we will see the fruits of our partnership actually manifest themselves. I also thank you for extending traditional and warm Maldivian welcome and for your hospitality. And I know that for those of my countrymen and women who will be seeing pictures of this event, either through my social media, or through other media channels, they will certainly see the turquoise waters, they will see the sandy beaches, but what they will also see, and I assure them what is really the warmth of your friendship, the generosity of your welcome. So I want to say it is always very good to be back in the Maldives.
As you have pointed out, this is my first visit to the northern Atoll, specifically to Manadhoo. And it's just another realization being here, what close neighbours we are, how much our destinies, how much our interests, how much our (inaudible). And today is also I think, in many ways, moment to reflect on how much our relationship has transformed during the last four years. We have what is clear a very deep partnership, a partnership of close friends and maritime neighbours, which has been strengthened, particularly by the visit of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to India in August 2022. And well, obviously, in a relationship like this, you know, it's in the national interest of both countries, I think we would do well to remember the words of Prime Minister Modi on that occasion, when he said that the India-Maldives partnership is not only working in the interests of the citizens of both countries, but is actually a source of peace, stability and prosperity for the entire region.
Today, therefore, before I actually speak about the particular projects and the advances that our relationship has made, I would, Minister, like to acknowledge your personal contribution, that of your entire team. What I do want to say, it's a pleasure working with you all, I think, as your partners on the other end of this relationship. This is really a testimony to the trust and confidence that we have built up. That so much has happened so smoothly, and so effectively on the ground and some of that, of course, is what we're going to be seeing.
We have for the media and for our colleagues, I want to say that the Minister and I had a very productive discussion before this press conference. We were joined by our delegations as well, after that. And the agreements and MoUs that we have exchanged today, again, are just a reaffirmation of the very strong development partnership that we have developed. We have jointly reviewed our ongoing infrastructure projects and the ground breaking ceremony of what, actually without exaggeration, is one of the most anticipated projects in the North, the Hanimaadhoo International airport expansion project, will be held later this evening. And it will be my great honour to represent the Government of India on that occasion. And I know that this project, when completed will actually transform the lives and livelihoods of all the people in the north of Maldives.
As the Hanimaadhoo airport commences in the north, we are also privileged to be a partner, of course, in another very ambitious project in the capital, the greater Malé connectivity project. This is the largest project, I believe, that has ever been done in this country. It was formally initiated in August 2022 during President Solih’s visit to India, and I'm glad to see that work continues apace on this project. We do expect it to become an economic corridor connecting Malé with Villingli, the proposed commercial port at Gulifalhu and the industrial zone at Thilafushi. Construction of 4000 social housing units at Hulhumale is also progressing well and I believe that too will contribute to meeting the needs of the Maldivian people. Other projects like the Addu roads and reclamation, water sanitation infrastructure for 34 islands across the archipelago are also progressing well. We hope that the projects for the expansion of Gan airport and the development of the Gulifalhu port will go into implementation phase very soon. Needless to say all these projects adhere to the basic tenets of the Indian development cooperation approach, which is emphasis on transparency, full participation, ownership of the host country, and competitive pricing. I'm confident that (inaudible) these projects together will completely transform the economic landscape of the Maldives.
We place an equal emphasis on impactful community development projects. We are already partnering on 45 such projects, 23 of which have been completed. Today we have handed over two sea ambulances to the MNDF to enable rapid deployment of health services for those in need. I look forward to jointly inaugurating with you Foreign Minister, the community centre at Foakaidhoo tomorrow. I'm happy that we have initiated another such project today for establishing a sports complex in Gaaf Dhaalu Gadhdhoo. Today, we have agreed to extend an additional grant of MVR 100 million to undertake more of these high impact community projects because we can actually see what immediate and direct impact that they have on the communities. And speaking of that, I would also like to note that there has been a very remarkable growth in our human resources, exchanges in cooperation. Our training arrangements have intensified. I believe over 900 of our Maldivian friends have visited India, for in person training in 2022 alone. And we have initiated a new program for capacity building. And certainly Minister, I look forward to working with you to highlight the Human Resources aspect of our cooperation.
Building on the People to People connect and recognizing the importance of education is very important. I'm happy to announce that we will be gifting over 10,000 school books to be distributed over 216 schools in this country. I'm also happy to see the conclusion today of MOU between our universities, the Maldives National University and the Cochi University of Science and Technology because I think this too is an important aspect of our relationship. In terms of the movement of people, I am very very encouraged to see that the combination of visa free travel, direct cargo vessels, they have all really provided a certain buoyancy to our ties. Bilateral trade has been expanding and we are proud to say we are the top source of tourism for Maldives, I think now for the (inaudible) and along with that we're also seeing the bilateral investment levels rising.
So what I do want to say today is, we are good neighbours, we are strong partners, we are today mutually invested in development, in progress, but we also together have a responsibility for peace and security in the region. Our security partnership also continues to strengthen, which is the way it should be. And again here, India is always willing to meet the requirements and the needs of the Maldives for both for itself, and for the northern region.
We know that this is a globalized, very interconnected, but also, in many ways, a somewhat volatile world. And today, a lot of our own diplomatic attention is being given to really, I would say, easing global tensions, ensuring that interests of countries like Maldives, whether it is in sustainable growth, green growth, in terms of fragility of our climate, that many of your concerns are also our concerns. And, again, I want to assure you, because we have just done the Voice of Global South Summit, that our intention is very much that the concerns of the smaller countries find a voice through us in the (inaudible) of the G20. I would also like to underline we deeply value our multilateral cooperation. I congratulate you Minister on your successful term as the President of the 76th UN General Assembly. It was our privilege to work very closely with you in that regard. I also congratulate Maldives as it commences its term as a member of the UN Human Rights Council.
So all in all, let me say, once again, it is truly a great pleasure to be back here. To be back, not just in Maldives, but to be here in Manadhoo and I look forward to my program this evening and tomorrow. It gives me again, personal satisfaction, to see our partnership scale new heights. And as I said, it takes a local visit to really witness for oneself, the fruits of a partnership, translating into the lives of (inaudible). So I thank you Minister for bringing me out here. And I hope that our shared activities, joint activities over this evening and tomorrow will help take our relationship to greater heights.
Once again thank you very much.
Manadhoo
January 18, 2023