Maldives

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Maldivian counterpart Abdulla Shahid signed a pact, on March 26. The agreement was based on connectivity between India's National Knowledge Network and the Maldives' Higher Education Network. ''With the signing of peering agreement, 1500+ Indian Institutes, Universities, and centres of learning from Singapore, Europe, and the US are connected to the Maldives via India’s… read-more

The ruling Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) has drafted a Bill to bring down the 'India Out' protests in the country. The protest began two years ago, in the backdrop of the nearness of the current Ibrahim Solih government. The Bill is said to have proposed a fine, a six-month imprisonment or one-year of house arrest, for the protestors. Notably, the legislation is required to put the government on alert.

Sunil Chhetri scored twice for India to beat Maldives (3-1) in their last match, advancing to SAFF Championships final on October 13. With his brace, the 37-year-old has now surpassed Pele's record of 77 international goals. He is presently the world's third-highest-active-goal-scorer. Chhetri is one goal behind Argentina's Lionel Messi, second-best international goal-scorer after Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo. India finished first in the five… read-more

Justifying the new contentious reforms in Lakshadweep, District Collector S Asker Ali on May 27 stated it was a step to develop the island on the lines of Maldives. He asserted that the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA) is to curb incidents of drug abuse and crimes against children, and accused the criminals of engaging in propaganda against the administration. Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called the reforms "… read-more

Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli lamented that India did not fulfill their promise of giving enough vaccines. Reportedly, Nepal was promised to receive one-million doses of COVID vaccines to administer second jab to its citizens. Requesting help from China, US and other countries, Oli said unless timely second dose is given, the first dose will be meaningless. Notably, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka also sought vaccines from the Serum Institute.