Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in India for three days on first foreign tour

Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih arrived in India on Sunday on a 3-day visit. This is his first visit to any country after taking over as the new Maldivian President on November 17. He was received by Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri who was the formal minister in waiting. Maldivian First Lady Fazna Ahmed, and a high-level delegation of the Maldives government are accompanying the President on his visit.

In his statement on his India visit, President Solih highlighted that India was among one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the Maldives. He also expressed his "gratitude to the Indian government for the continuous support and assistance provided for the development of the Maldives".

His first engagement was with Maldivian community residing in Delhi and enquired on the challenges they were facing.

A number of bilateral agreements will be signed between the government of the Maldives and India during the visit, one on which is agreement on a new visa regime that will ease the process of obtaining a dependent visa and medical visa for Maldivian travellers to India.

On Monday he will be given a Guard of Honour at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, followed by meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will also host a state banquet in honour of President Solih and the First Lady.

PM Modi had visited the Maldives last month to take part in the swearing-in ceremony of Solih.