Maldives Must Give Priority to India: Indian High Commissioner

High Commissioner of India to Maldives Sunjay Sudhir has stated that maintaining the ties between India and Maldives must always be prioritized.

During an interview with Indian media ThePrint, Sudhir claimed that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's government is aware of the importance of maintaining the peace and security of the Indian Ocean due to its location, contrary to the previous government that did not prioritize the matter.

Assuring that the government would receive full support from India to maintain the security of Indian Ocean nations, he said that, "It is also our [India's] responsibility to maintain peace and security in the region. So we are working on these two complementary approaches". He mentioned that India aided the recovery of the Maldivian economy after former President Yameen's regime.

"There were debts, there were sovereign guarantees, nobody knew what the figure of the debt was, the private sector had taken loans from Chinese banks and the government had given a guarantee, which is against the norm. It was a very messed up situation. The economy needed a resuscitation, so we announced an economic package for them", said the High Commissioner.

He further claimed that a small country like Maldives should not "shut its doors" on China. Stressing that India does not want them to do so, Sudhir stated that President Solih introduced an India-first foreign policy.