The Indian Defence Secretary, Dr. Ajay Kumar, visited the Maldives from February 13 to 14 to launch a program to help strengthen the defence forces and military establishment of the neighboring country.
The main objective of this visit was to hold dialogues with the MNDF as part of the 3rd Defence Cooperation Dialogue (DCD). The first DCD was conducted in July 2016 and the second DCD was conducted in January 2019. The DCD is a policy-level framework to bolster bilateral defence relations that are longstanding and mutually-benefical, officials said.
The Defence Secretary of India handed over the refitted CGS Huravee (ship) to the Maldivian side. CGS Huravee was gifted by India to the MNDF in 2006. Dr. Ajay Kumar also inaugurated the Phase I extension of the Composite Training Centre (CTC) of the MNDF.
However, Maldives hosted the Indian defence secretary notwithstanding recent “India Out” campaign by the Opposition launched against growing India-Maldives defence partnership.
