Indian President Droupadi Murmu recently hosted a banquet for her visiting Maldivian counterpart Mohamed Muizzu when he said  Maldives is a  a close friend and key partner for India in the Indian Ocean Region.

She said Maldives holds a special place in India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and SAGAR Vision.

Murmu hosted the banquet in honour of Murmu and his wife First Lady Sajidha Mohamed at Rashtrapati Bhavan on October 7.

Murmu said that the Vision document adopted during this visit would elevate the level of our relationship and provide a clear roadmap to achieving a comprehensive economic and maritime security partnership.

She was happy to note that India is one of the top trading partners of Maldives, and noted that there is also good potential for taking forward collaboration in the field of digital payments and other new technologies.

Muizzu is currently visiting India.

He met Indian PM Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during his visit to the country.