India and the Maldives have long-standing ties in terms of ethnicity, language, culture, religion, and trade, and their relations are warm and multifaceted…reports Asian Lite News
India and the Maldives discussed new initiatives and stronger engagement between their armed forces at the 6th Joint Staff Talks (JST) held in New Delhi on Tuesday.
“Discussions focused on the ongoing and new initiatives under the ambit of existing bilateral defence cooperation mechanism of all the three services and further strengthening the engagements,” India’s Ministry of Defence said.
The meeting was co-chaired by Assistant Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS) Air Vice Marshal Ashish Vohra and Commandant, Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) Service Corps Brigadier General Hamidh Shafeeg.
The JST is a forum established to boost defence cooperation between India and the Maldives through annual talks at the strategic and operational levels between HQ IDS & MNDF.
India and the Maldives have long-standing ties in terms of ethnicity, language, culture, religion, and trade, and their relations are warm and multifaceted.
The Maldives is also strategically important to India because of its location in the Indian Ocean and its inclusion in the government’s “Neighborhood First” strategy.
Additionally, the Maldives plays a significant role in preserving the political stability and security of the region. (India News Netowrk)
