Highlights of EAM S. Jaishankar visit to Maldives and Sri Lanka

On March 26-30, 2022, Union Minister Subrahmanyam (S.) Jaishankar, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) visited Maldives and Sri Lanka which are India’s key maritime neighbours in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), and also a part of a Indian initiatives of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR), and Neighbourhood First.

• His visit follows the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives, Abdulla Shahid, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, Prof. Gamini Lakshman Peiris.

Visit to Maldives:

Union Minister S. Jaishankar was on a two-day visit to Addu city in Maldives on March 26-27. During this he called on President of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and held discussions regarding economic recovery, development partnership, mutual security, fishermen’s issues and international coordination with Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid.

The visit also saw the signing of pacts on health and education along with inaugurations which are given as below:

Inaugurations/Handover by EAM S. Jaishankar and President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih:

i.Inauguration of National College for Policing & Law Enforcement (NCPLE) at Addu City to  help the Maldives Police Service (MPS) to train its officers and enhance its crime-fighting capacities

• It is India’s largest grant-funded project in Maldives. 
• It is constructed by NBCC (India) Limited (formerly National Buildings Construction Corporation).

ii.Inauguration of Meedhoo eco-tourism zone, the first of the 20 High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP) being implemented with the Indian assistance in areas such as healthcare, education, fisheries, tourism, sports and culture.

iii.Inauguration of Vilunu Drug Detoxification and Rehabilitation Centre in the Addu. It is funded jointly by India and the Maldivian government.

iv.Union Minister S. Jaishankar formally handed over the Coastal Radar System to the Maldives Chief of Defence Force (CDF) Major General Abdulla Shamaal. It comprises 10 radar stations which will contribute in enhancing maritime security for the Maldives and for the entire region.

Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) signed between India and Maldives:

i.MoU in Capacity building between SVPNPA, Hyderabad, and MPS

A MoU was signed between Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) in Hyderabad, Telangana and MPS to enhance the capacities of latter or Human Resource Development (HRD) through training and the development of its curriculum. India also increased the number of training slots for the Maldives at SVPNPA to 8.

ii.Peering agreement on extension of National Knowledge Network to Maldives

This MoU was signed between the National Centre for Information Technology (NCIT) of Maldives and the National Informatics Centre of India (NIC) to strengthen cooperation in the field of information communication technology.

• Under this MoU there will be formal establishment of relations between the Higher Education Network of Maldives and the National Knowledge Network (NKN) of India. This enables access to digital libraries and networking sources for students and professionals of Maldivian educational institutes. 

Key Points:

i.NKN is a multi-gigabit national research and education network, whose purpose is to provide a unified high speed network for educational and research institutions in India. It is managed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

ii.With signing of peering agreement, 1500 Indian Institutes, Universities and centres of learning from Singapore, Europe and the US (United States) are connected to Maldives via India’s NKN.

iii.A peering agreement is an agreement between two network administrators to share data routing responsibilities across multiple networks.

iii.MoU on reciprocal recognition of COVID-19 certificates

A MoU signed for reciprocal recognition of COVID-19 Vaccination Certificates signed between the Maldives Ministry of Health and India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW). 

• This agreement will facilitate easier travel between India and Maldives as digital vaccine certificates issued through the COVID-19 safe website of the Maldives and certificates issued through India’s Covin platform will be accepted by both sides

Signatories:

India: Munu Mahawar, Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives

Maldives: Ahmed Naseem, Minister of Health

iv.Signing of contract for Addu Reclamation and Shore Protection Project

A contract for an $80-million Addu reclamation and shore protection project was also inked between India and Maldives. 

Visit to Sri Lanka:

The Indian EAM visited Sri Lanka on March 28-30 for interactions, bilateral meetings and to participate in the 18th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting on March 29 which was hosted by Sri Lanka in Colombo. 

• BIMSTEC is an acronym for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, and comprises India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.
• He also visited the 1990 Suwa Seriya Ambulance service in Colombo.

About 18th BIMSTEC Ministerial meeting:

i.S Jaishankar met his counterparts from Nepal (Narayan Khadka), Bhutan (Tandi Dorji), and Bangladesh (Abul Kalam Abdul Momen) on the sidelines of this meeting, and discussed cooperation in connectivity, energy and hydropower projects.

ii.Indian side emphasized on the expansion of cooperation in areas, especially connectivity, energy and maritime, and jointly combat terrorism, violent extremism, transnational crime, cyber-attacks and narco-trafficking.

MoUs signed between India and Sri Lanka:

i.MoU on setting up of MRCC in Colombo

Both nations have signed a MoU for the Bengaluru (Karnataka)-based Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) to set up a state of the art Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) at the headquarters of the Sri Lankan Navy in Colombo, with a sub-centre in Hambantota. It will be established with a grant of $6 million from India.

• This will enhance co-operation on maritime security between the two countries.
• As a part of MRCC, BEL will set up advanced software systems that will increase Sri Lanka’s capacities for communication and co-ordination 

What is MRCC?

MRCCs are part of an international network under the United Nations’ (UN) International Maritime Organisation to monitor the sea lanes for quick response to emergencies.

ii.MoU on the implementation of SL-UDI programme with India’s Grant Assistance

An agreement was signed for the implementation of Sri Lanka’s Unique Digital Identity program, dubbed SL-UDI. India will fund Rs 300 million (approximately US$3.9 million) for this program.

MoU for the establishment of modern computer labs and smart boards with customized curriculum software in 200 schools in the Galle district.

MoU between the Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Services (SSIFS), India, and the Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute (BIDTI).

MoU for providing Marine Rescue Coordinating Center (MRCC).

MoU on the implementation of Hybrid Power Projects in three islands in Jaffna.

MoU on Cooperation in Development of Fisheries Harbours in Sri Lanka.

India to build Sri Lanka wind farms after China pushed aside 

India has agreed to develop three Sri Lankan wind farms on the three islets in the Palk Strait between southern India and Sri Lanka viz. Nainativu, Analaitivu and Delft after the project was taken away from a Chinese firm.

• A $12m project to build wind turbines on three islets was awarded to a Chinese firm in 2019 with funding lined up from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), but was later scrapped.
• A MoU had been signed by India and Sri Lanka to build the installations.

Recent Related News:

i.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended over US$ 900 million loan facilities to Sri Lanka, comprising Asian Clearing Union (ACU) settlement of over USD 500 million and currency Swap of USD 400 million. This funding will aid Sri Lanka to overcome forex crisis and shortage of almost all essential commodities due to a shortage of dollars to pay for the imports.

ii.On 14th February 2022, Dr Ajay Kumar, Defence Secretary of India co-chaired the 3rd India –Maldives Defence Cooperation Dialogue(DCD) 2022 in Maldives with Major General Abdulla Shamaal Chief of Defence Force (CDF) of Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).

About Maldives:

Capital– Male
Currency– Maldivian Rufiyaa

About Sri Lanka:

Capital– Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (legislative capital), Colombo (executive and judicial capital)
Currency– Sri Lankan Rupee