Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih have decided to launch a ferry service between India and the Maldives. This ferry service will improve connectivity of both countries. PM Modi was on two-day state visit to the Maldives.
PM Modi and President Solih directed officials to work towards starting a regular passenger-cum-cargo ferry service between India’s Kochi and the Maldivian capital Male via Kulhudhuffushi atoll. This step will to boost tourism between the two countries. The distance between Kochi and Male is about 700 kms, and between Kochi and Kulhudhuffushi atoll is 500 kms.
PM Modi addressed the Maldivian Parliament during this visit. He said: “I am particularly happy that we have agreed upon a ferry service between the two countries”. A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between the two sides for the establishment of passenger and cargo services by sea.
Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said that the ferry service was discussed between Prime Minister Modi and President Solih. He said, “This is the first time, we are going to begin passenger cum cargo services directly connecting the Indian mainland with the Maldives from Kochi via Kulhudhuffushi to Male.”
“Both the leaders emphasised the need to improve connectivity between the two countries through the establishment of enabling infrastructure and in this regard, directed their concerned officials to expeditiously work towards starting a regular passenger-cum-cargo ferry service between Kochi and Kulhudhuffushi and Male,” The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. This was Modi’s first foreign visit after his re-election as Prime Minister. This reflects the importance India attaches to its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy. PM Modi visited the Maldives in November 2018 to attend President Solih’s swearing-in. This visit was the first by an Indian prime minister at a bilateral level in eight years.
It is remarkable that the relations between India and the Maldives deteriorated after the then President Abdulla Yameen imposed emergency on February 5, 2018. Some decisions by Yameen including imposition of restrictions on work visas for Indians and signing of a new Free Trade Agreement with Beijing also did not go down well with New Delhi. However, ties were back on track under Solih’s presidency. China views the Maldives as key to its Maritime Silk Road project in the Indian Ocean. China has already acquired Hambantota port in Sri Lanka and Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.
