Gandhinagar : Hon’ble President, Speaker of the People’s Majlis Mohamed Nasheed and a parliamentary all party delegation from Maldives paid courtesy visit to the chief minister of the state Vijay Rupani in Gandhinagar yesterday. The main purpose of the 87 members of all party delegation was to study Autonomy of local self-government organizations, Maritime trade of the state, as well as industrial development.
Welcoming the delegation Vijay Rupani said that, the visit of all party delegation will strengthen the relation between Maldives and Gujarat. Briefing about the 1600 km long coastline of Gujarat he said that there are tremendous opportunities between Maldives and Gujarat in the shipping and fishing industry.

Hon’ble President Mohamed Nasheed recalled that Maldives had trade relations with Gujarat since the 17th to 18th centuries as well as Gujarati’s were the first community to visit Maldives from other countries. Goods sent from Gujarat to far eastern countries go through Maldives. This effort will be important in their nation’s intention to make Maldives a maritime hub. CM Rupani showed a positive response to further study and discuss with Central Government. He handed over a replica of Statue of Unity to Mohamed Nasheed. Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister K. Kailashnathan, Principal Secretary Manojkumar Das and Secretary Ashwini Kumar attended the meeting.