New Delhi: On his first state-visit to China, Maldives President Mohammed Muizzu and Chinese President Xi Jinping inked 20 key agreements and ‘upgraded’ bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
This comes at a time when relations between Male and New Delhi have soured, and amid calls in India for a tourism boycott of Maldives which has left the island nation’s tourism industry worried about ripple-effects on the economy.
On Wednesday, the Chinese and Maldivian presidents held official bilateral talks at the Great Hall of People in Beijing. During discussions, Muizzu expressed gratitude for China’s “significant role” in the island country’s “economic success”, read a statement from the Maldives President’s Office.
Muizzu and Xi also discussed ways to expand tourism cooperation and air connectivity between the two countries.
Following bilateral talks, both sides signed 20 agreements covering several areas including disaster management, professional development, socio-economic cooperation and more.
One of the key agreements called for accelerating the formulation of a cooperation plan on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) between China’s National Development and Reform Commission and Maldives’ Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.
Muizzu is on an official state-visit to China from 8-12 January. He is accompanied by his wife, First Lady Sajidha Mohamed, and a high-level delegation.
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What are the 20 key agreements?
Muizzu and Xi signed 20 key agreements covering a range of economic and strategic areas. The two leaders also announced the upgradation of bilateral ties to a high-level strategic cooperative partnership.
The MoUs signed covered cooperation in the following areas: tourism, disaster risk reduction, agriculture, housing, digital economy, blue economy cooperation especially for fisheries, education and human resource development, and green energy, among others.
Agreements were also signed between state-owned news corporations — China Media Group and Maldives’ Public Service Media (PSM) as well as Xinhua News Agency and the PSM .
A statement from the Maldives government said the two countries also inked an agreement for grant assistance but did not specify the amount. China is the island nation’s largest external creditor, and according to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Male owes Beijing about $1.3 billion.
Two letters of Exchange on a ‘Coconut Tree Pest Control Project’ and a feasibility study on laboratory equipment for 17 health facilities were also signed.
A day prior, Muizzu held meetings with senior Chinese business leaders and heaped praise on BRI while speaking at the “Invest Maldives” forum in Fuzhou. During his speech, he said two strategic projects in Maldives as were in line with BRI’s vision, including a mega project to develop the Velana International Airport which aims to cater to 25 million passengers.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)