India in February strongly supported the candidature of Maldives’ foreign minister Abdulla Shahid for President of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly next year. During his visit to the Maldives, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in February said that Mr Shahid, with his vast diplomatic experience and leadership qualities is, in India’s view, the best equipped to preside over the General Assembly of 193 nations of the world. “We will work together to make this a reality,” he said.

Mr Jaishankar also said that India would like to work with the Maldives during its membership of the United Nations Security Council for 2021-22. Reciprocating the sentiment, Mr Shahid, who spoke in Hindi, said, “A bird in flight, stays true on course, with not one but two wings in syncrhonised motion. Our two countries are like those wings. We work in harmony, we work together, with the same interests, aiming to reach the same destination.” Mr Jaishankar said that the time-tested India-Maldives relationship is today poised for a quantum jump, scaling newer heights and touching the lives of the people like never before. “We are partners in development, but also in promoting peace and security in the region.” ‘India First’ has been the underlying foreign policy approach of the Government of Maldives. President Ibrahim Solih, ever since he assumed office in November 2018, has taken concerted initiatives on this front. This has been in congruence with India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.