Remarks by EAM, Dr. S. Jaishankar at the interaction with the Indian community in Maldives
August 10, 2024
High Commissioner Munu Mahawar,
Dear friends,
It’s a really great pleasure to be with all of you, and so let me begin with a Namaskar and a good evening to all of you. As the High Commissioner said, very early in the third term of Prime Minister Modi, I am here on a visit to Maldives. And that itself should be an indication of the priority, because finally the 24 hours in a day, the seven days in a week, how you allocate your time and what you prioritize actually tells you what is both your feeling and your thinking. And for us, whether it is the feeling or the thinking, this is a very, very important partnership. I also want to say that when the oath taking of Prime Minister Modi and his government happened in June, we were very honored that the President of Maldives, Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, came and participated in these celebrations. I think it was very well received, it was taken in many ways as an expression of friendship and goodwill towards India. Most of you, all of you actually live here. And it’s really not necessary for a visitor to come and tell you about a relationship which you are living every day. But still, as someone who has been around a little bit, I want to remind you of a few milestones in our relationship. Because we can say that Maldives is a neighbor, we say โNeighborhood Firstโ.
Today, under Prime Minister Modi, we give a lot of attention to the countries of the Indian Ocean, we have a policy called โSAGARโ. But I do want to say that Maldives is not just an ordinary neighbor. And the proof of that, the proof of that is actually in our history. Today, at many of my meetings, the Maldivian side, the Minister or the high official, they reminded me of our participation, our contribution to the events in November 1988, which is so important in Maldivian history. And I must say, I also told them as an aside, I was myself at that time in Sri Lanka and involved in it from that side. But whether it is the 1988 attack on Maldives by terrorist mercenaries, or whether it was the 2004 tsunami when all of us tried to help each other in what was really a catastrophic natural disaster, or whether, I don’t know how many of you were here 10 years ago when there was a water crisis, or indeed when the COVID was taking place. But in many cases, I would say our closeness, our friendship, our relationship, they have been expressed by very practical things which we have done, are what things which are appreciated and remembered and valued.
So when we speak about a relationship, you understand that relationship is like between two people; countries, the minds and sentiments of countries are also quite similar, that people remember when you have been with them in times of difficulty, people acknowledge when you went out of the way, people appreciate, as during COVID, when so many countries, much richer countries than ours, they looked after only their own people; and there are many countries which in population size are even smaller than Maldives; and they live, they’re located next to countries much richer than India; but they didn’t get vaccines from those countries.
So I mention this to you because I do think that there is a history, there is a reservoir of goodwill, and in many ways, you are all both beneficiaries of it and you are contributors to it. That you are the people who keep it alive, who keep adding layers to it, who refresh it every day through your work, your job, and your life in this country.
Now, High Commissioner briefed me that you are here from a range of professions, and I can see some of that, I have encountered that in some of my previous visits as well. But I do want to say that cumulatively, whether you are doctors or nurses, whether you are teachers or engineers or managers or professionals, what you do in this country shapes the thinking, the image of India. And in many ways, when we say that our diaspora, our community, when we say that they are ambassadors of India, it’s not an empty word. An ambassador is a person who goes abroad to build a relationship with another society. And that’s exactly what all of you do. And when in any country, when people think of another country, they put a face to it. For people, India is not a country on a map, India is the Indian that they know, India is the doctor who has treated them, India is the teacher who has educated them, India is the engineer who has worked with them.
So if you look around the world, I think many of you would have noted that under Prime Minister Modi, actually there’s a tremendous focus today on the value which the Indian community across the world provides to India. And the reason is, across the world, people take that individual experience, that something you have done, some contribution you have made, some relationship you have build. This is the world’s image of India. And do think about that when you look at Indians, Indians holding Indian passports, and Indians, people of Indian origin, there are almost three and a half crores, NRIs and PIOs across the world. So a large part of what is the image of India today in the world is something which has been shaped by NRIs and PIOs. And I thank you for that. And I thank you, these are also the sentiments of Prime Minister Modi.
Now, when we speak about people who are across the world, it’s also reflecting a new reality today, which is a global workplace, that people no longer think that if they want a job, that they should be afraid to go outside the country. You can go outside the country to do a contract with some company for which you work. But many people go outside the country to take up jobs which they see advertised or in the marketplace or somebody has told. And we have to accept today that this is actually the new reality, the global workplace. And you are the nearest example of that global workplace. That if you look at global demographics, definitely in the next five to ten years, more and more professions in the world will have Indians working there and working there outside India. This is the reality of demographics. This is the reality of where skills and talents are in the works.
So for us today, one part as I said, we value you, we respect you for the contribution you make as a diaspora. But I also want to say we recognize you as the global workplace, as people who today are actually in a way pioneers, who are doing something which previous generations did not do. Because it takes a lot of courage to work outside your own country, even to leave your own town or your own state is an act of courage, to leave your own country is not a small thing, but to leave your own country and work somewhere else, this is a trend, definitely, but it is a trend which we value, and in many ways, today, we try to support. So a lot of work we do across the world is in support of this global workplace.
Now, I came here yesterday, as High Commissioner told you, I’d like to briefly share with you what I’ve been doing for the last few days. So in fact, the program, just before this, was that, along with the Foreign Minister and the Minister of Construction, we had gone to visit the Greater Male Connectivity Project. Now, all of you would have heard of it, many of you would have seen it. I went to the work site for the first time today, and I spent quite a lot of time there. And I want to tell you, this is truly an amazing project. When you look at what this project is about, the kind of challenges which they face, the depth of water for which they have to go down, the height of the bridges that they have to make, the length of what they are trying to connect, the load that it will take, and to do this all working in very difficult sea conditions. I must tell you, I came out very, very proud today of what India had done. In fact, the gentleman who was explaining the project, he actually told me that they had made one of the highest bridges over Chenab in India. But to me, naturally for the company, they are proving themselves. They are making a statement about their capabilities and their design and their engineering. But I think in many ways, as a country, we are also proving ourselves in Maldives. When this project is completed, it would, for many people, actually be a testimony of what India is capable of and what a relationship can actually do.
Now, this is what I did just before coming here. But before that, in the presence of the President and the two Ministers I mentioned, we actually also inaugurated water and sewerage projects in 28 islands across the Maldives. This is a project with which I have an association before and I had in my last visit seen the beginnings of this come about. But here again, for us, partly what we are doing in Maldives is what we are doing in India. We are trying to get in Har Ghar Jal. We are trying to get clean water, piped water, healthy water to every household. The sewerage is also part of Swachh Bharat. We actually do projects like this on a very large scale, it actually has the ability to also, in some way, be executable outside the country. And just think of it, that there will be tens of thousands of people in this country whose water and whose cleanliness is again delivered by something which is a collaboration with India.
Tomorrow, I’ll be traveling to Addu. We have a big reclamation project and a link road which we are doing. Again, I think many of you would know it. But yesterday in the evening, I again joined the Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer, on something you could say it’s very small. But you know, for people whose lives change, small things matter. These were six projects. Three of them were as simple as providing lighting. Lighting in certain localities, in certain islands. This is LED lighting in islands. Two of them were with education and one had to do with mental health. They were not big projects. But again, as I said, it reminded me, some years ago, of a de-addiction project that we started here in Maldives. But for the beneficiary of the project, for the community where this is done, think of what this means, that, as I said, their image of India, their vision of India, their feeling for it, it actually comes out of that.
So, this is a very strong relationship for us. It’s a very close relationship for us. We have a very good history here. I mean, every time I come to Male, I pass the hospital, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital here. I just saw, even the place I was staying, I think you had a hospitality faculty just across the road. And some time ago, we built the Police Training Center here. And we continue to work with the police, the training of police in this country.
So, I do want to assure you that for India, for the government, for Prime Minister Modi personally, this relationship is a very important one. We will continue to nurture it. We will find practical ways of expressing our friendship. Now, I also am aware that very often when we meet with Indian community abroad, that all of you have your concerns. So, I’m giving you, in a way, the perspective out of India. So, I know, and High Commissioner has briefed me, that there are concerns about remittances. And that, in fact, we had a discussion today with the key Ministers, the Finance Minister, the Economic Development Minister. Some of it is obviously related to issues which Maldives itself is facing. But certainly, your concerns would remain high in our priorities. They will be taken up by the High Commissioner, where necessary by me, with the government here.
So, let me just again thank you for all that you are doing here. Let me underline today that for us, Indian communities are really so important in terms of our relations across the world, and especially so with our neighbor, an important neighbor. So, it’s very good to see you all. I thank you for taking out the time and joining here today. If there are any particular issues you feel I can be of any help or shed any light, or if you just want to argue with me, please feel free.
Thank you.
Read also:
India-Maldives Partnership: Strengthening Ties and Mutual Development
