President meets with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

President Mohamed Nasheed has met with Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh during a visit to India.

During the meeting Nasheed thanked the Prime Minister for a US$40 million credit line from India which will be used to assist the government’s housing project, donations of pharmaceuticals and sports equipment, and US$5.7 million in technical assistance for technology adaption in the education sector.

Nasheed also raised the possibility of an international ferry network connecting India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and said that the Maldivian government would submit such a proposal at the SAARC Summit later this year.

Other topics of discussion included the potential for further development assistance from India, climate change and the global economic and political climate, especially the rise of pro-democracy movements in Middle East.

During his two day visit to India Nasheed also met with Indian External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna, Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance Sonia Gandhi, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon and other senior officials of the Indian Government.

The focus of the discussions were around the creation of the new ferry system, the President’s Office noted.

Nasheed also emphasised the need “to get SAARC moving more rapidly and more forcefully, mainly, through empowering the secretariat and granting more powers and more leverage to the Secretary-General.”

The President was also interviewed on Indian television’s ‘Walk the Talk’ show, aired on NDTV.