Maldives Invites PM Narendra Modi to Address Parliament

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing the sitting house of the Parliament in the Maldives – People’s Majlis- during his visit to the country on June 7-8.

Reciprocating to the importance India has attached to this archipelago nation, Maldives has decided to honour the Indian Prime Minister by having him address the Parliament.

This will be Narendra Modi’s first foreign visit after assuming office for the second consecutive term.

In a tweet, Maldives’ foreign minister Abdulla Shahid wrote, “Maldives Parliament has unanimously passed a resolution to invite PM Narendra Modi to address a sitting of the house during his upcoming visit to the Maldives.”

Maldives Parliament has unanimously passed a resolution to invite PM @narendramodi to address a sitting of the house during his upcoming visit to the Maldives.

— Abdulla Shahid (@abdulla_shahid) May 29, 2019

The Majlis took up the matter on Wednesday and motion was passed with consensus. As a part of a process, if any foreign leader addresses the country’s Parliament, it has to be approved by the MPs.

Maldives and Pakistan are only two South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations where Prime Minister Modi did not pay a state visit in his first term.

Although PM Modi had visited the Maldives to attend the oath-taking ceremony of President Solih last year after he ousted the China-backed Yameen administration in the presidential polls.

Experts have called it a major strategic move as PM Modi choose a predominantly Muslim country for his first foreign visit which is geo-strategically also a critical neighbourhood nation to India.

Bhutan was the first foreign country PM Modi visited in his first term after taking charge as Prime Minister in 2014.

During that visit, he addressed the joint session of Parliament.

Source:IT

Image Courtesy:ET