Maldives confers country’s highest honor on PM Narendra Modi

Malé, June 08 (Only Kashmir): Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with the Maldives’ highest honor “Rule of Nishan Izzuddeen” on Saturday during his two-day state visit to the country.
The prestigious award was presented to Modi by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih during a ceremony in Male. The prime minister also inspected the guard of honor.
The two-day state visit of Prime Minister Modi is aimed at further cementing ties with the Indian Ocean archipelago.
President Solih and Modi exchanged pleasantries upon the prime minister’s arrival at Republic Square where he was accorded a ceremonial welcome.
The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi presented a Cricket Bat signed by Indian World Cup Team to the President of Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, in Male, Maldives.
Earlier, Prime Minister Modi and President Solih held delegation-level talks as the two countries signed a slew of agreements to strengthen bilateral ties in a number of key areas including defense.
While Modi visited the Maldives in November 2018 to attend President Solih’s swearing-in, this visit is the first by an Indian prime minister at a bilateral level in eight years.
The relations between India and the Maldives deteriorated after the then President Abdulla Yameen imposed emergency on February 5 last year.
Some decisions by Yameen including the imposition of restrictions on work visas for Indians and signing of a new Free Trade Agreement with Beijing also did not go down well with New Delhi. However, ties were back on track under Solih’s presidency.