India Donates Medical Equipment To Maldivian Military Hospital
Male/New Delhi, Feb 15: India has donated 2,800 kg of medical equipment to the Senahiya military hospital in Male, during the visit of Indian Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar to the Indian Ocean island nation.
The equipment was handed over by Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar to Maldivian Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi during a ceremony held at Bandaarakoshi on Monday afternoon.
The donation includes hospital equipment and other medical equipment used during emergencies.
The Maldives National Defence Forces in a tweet expressed thanks.
“Extremely grateful to India for the donation of medical equipment to Senahiya Military Hospital. This will facilitate better provision of medical care.”
Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid in a tweet said the medical equipment will enhance the health services capacity and emergency response of the Maldivian forces.
“This special gesture received today, is a true symbol of the absolute strength of #MaldivesIndiaPartnership.”
On Monday, Indian Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar co-chaired the Third India – Maldives Defence Cooperation Dialogue’ with Chief of Defence Force (CDF) of Maldives National Defence Force Major General Abdulla Shamaal.
Both sides discussed joint efforts and capacity building initiatives being taken by both the countries to deter trans-national crimes and bolster national security in the region.
The Indian Defence Secretary also inaugurated the Composite Training Center Phase-I Annex built with Indian grant assistance in Maldives and handed over the refitted CGS Huravee – a made-in-India patrol vessel.
Abdulla Shahid in a tweet said that “inaugurated CTC Phase-I Annex & the handover of refitted CGS Huravee” will be “an immense contribution” towards the capacity building efforts of Maldives forces.
Maldives Defence Minister Mariya Didi expressed gratitude for the medical equipment, and also by the “positivity” of the Indian Defence Secretary. “Thank you for med equipment presented to @SenahiyaMH Touched by the positivity of DefSec @drajaykumar_ias & Team at the Defence talks. Grateful to GOI for their assistance to further strengthen our Defence Force to achieve our common goal of maintaining peace/stability in #IOR. Partnering for health and wellbeing of personnel and people,” she posted.
On Sunday, Ajay Kumar paid a courtesy call on Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi. During the meeting held at the Ministry of Defence in Male’, discussions focused on the immense and expanding India-Maldives defence cooperation in the past three years. The Minister thanked India for the immense assistance during the Covid pandemic with medical supplies, transportation of food supplies, humanitarian assistance, and technical support for MNDF, with more than 170 medical evacuations and 130 surveillance missions conducted in the last three years. She expressed her deep appreciation for the Coast Guard Dockyard project, which is set to be the most comprehensive defense infrastructure development project carried out in the Maldives. In February last year, the two sides inked an agreement to develop and maintain a coastguard harbour and dockyard at Uthuru Thilafalhu – a strategically located atoll near the Maldivian capital of Male. The two sides had also inked a USD 50 million credit line agreement for defence projects.
