Thaindian News

Male (Maldives), Nov 12 (IANS) Amid China’s foray in this Indian Ocean island nation, India Saturday inked an umbrella agreement with the Maldives to intensify cooperation in diverse areas, including trade and counter-terrorism, and unveiled a fresh $100 million line of credit for the picture-pretty atoll nation.

The two sides signed six pacts, including two on combating terrorism and transfer of sentenced persons.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held wide-ranging talks with Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed for around half-an-hour in the seafront presidential office and discussed issues ranging from trade and development to combating terror and climate change.

After the talks, the two leaders inked a historic Framework Agreement on Cooperation for Development which promises to open “new frontiers of cooperation”.

It is similar in scope to an umbrella agreement that India had signed with Bangladesh nearly two years ago that transformed relations between the two neighbours.

This agreement puts in place a template for cooperation in a wide range of areas such as trade and investment, food security, fisheries development, tourism, transportation, information technology, new and renewable energy and connectivity, Manmohan Singh said at a joint press conference with Nahseed.

“It’s a very wide agreement. It will go a long way in Indian assistance to Maldives’ development,” said Nasheed while thanking India for its support.

Underlining “high growth trajectory” in bilateral ties, the Indian prime minister also announced a fresh line of credit of $100 million that will enable it to stabilise its financial situation and import essential commodities.

This is in addition to $40 million that India had pledged a year ago for the construction of 500 houses in the atoll island.

With Islamist fundamentalism trying to spread its tentacles in the Maldives and piracy becoming an urgent threat, the two leaders spent some time on focusing on ensuring security in the Indian Ocean.

Against this backdrop, the two sides decided to imbue their security cooperation by signing a pact for combating terrorism, drug trafficking and coastal security.

Manmohan Singh also announced India’s decision to renovate the 200-bed Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital that has emerged as the main referral hospital in the island nation.

Other key decisions that emerged from the meeting included India offering to develop National Police Academy and fast-tracking the proposal for a passenger-cum-cargo ferry service between Cochin and Male at the earliest.

They also decided to look at the possibility of developing a port north of Male.

India also offered to look at an ambitious package for development of the Maldivian economy, including in the areas of banking, financial institutions and capacity building.

Put together, this spate of decisions promises to impart a fresh momentum to the strategically located island nation in which China is trying to make inroads.

India has taken note of the visit of Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China, to the Maldives in May, but has rejected any rivalry with Beijing.

The prime minister turned on his charm in his 15-minute address to People’s Majlis, the first foreign head of state or government to address the Maldivian parliament.

“India will be at your side in your transition to a fully functioning democracy,” Manmohan Singh told assembled legislators in the People’s Majlis on the last day of his four-day visit to the country where he attended the SAARC summit in Addu and headed to Male for bilateral talks with the Maldives president.

Lauding Maldives for its democratic transformation, Manmohan Singh, who is visiting the Indian Ocean atoll nation of coral-blue 1,190 islands for the first time, said he was “overwhelmed by the breathtaking beauty and serenity of this nation of islands”.

Underlining time-tested ties, he said India will always stand with Maldives in its efforts for development and national renewal.

“You have shown how even a small nation can stand up and be counted in the affairs of the world,” he added.

(Manish Chand can be contacted at manish.c@ians.in)