High Commissioner of India to the Maldives His Excellency Sunjay Sudhir, Commissioner of Prisons, Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Fulhu Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This year has been a year of recovery, resilience and reinvigoration. We have overcome some very challenging obstacles in the midst of a very uncertain future.
The hardships of the pandemic have not yet disappeared, but through it all, the Government has been patient and equally determined to continue to drive our developmental efforts forward and in the right direction.
Today, we are here to celebrate the handover of four vehicles to Maldives Corrections Service – one among the many projects facilitated by the kindness of the Government of India.
This is only the first component of the project, as this project also seeks to procure a passenger-launch for the Maldives Corrections Service. This project was enabled by a combined cash grant of 8 million Rufiyaa. It is part of a larger grant assistance of 106 million rufiyaa, extended to the Government of Maldives in 2019.
The handover of these vehicles to Maldives Corrections Service essentially represents all that the Indian Grant Assistance Scheme embodies – small yet impactful work, that in turn empowers communities and fosters development.
Maldives Corrections Service is an important institution that promotes reform and encourages the successful reintegration of criminal offenders to return to society as responsible citizens. This is a crucial process for the development as well as ensuring the safety of society, and this can only be achieved when the reform institutions are able to provide a high quality of services.
We believe that the handover of the four vehicles, would ease the logistical issues relating to the transportation of offenders and witnesses in around the Greater Malé area, ultimately improving the overall efficiency and functioning of Maldives Corrections Service. India has been a constant source of support for the Maldives, with traditional relations dating back more than five decades. The foundations of these immensely strong relations are built on the people-to-people connections that are formed with every interaction, especially during the implementation of these numerous socially beneficial projects.
I wish to thank the Indian Government for their continuous support for the people, and the local communities, of the Maldives, by facilitating so many of these socially impactful projects across the country. I thank Minister of External Affairs Dr Jaishankar, for his personal commitment to the Maldives-India partnership. I would also like to thank you, High Commissioner, and your team at the High Commission, for your warm relations with the people of the Maldives.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Commissioner of Prisons and his team at Maldives Corrections Service for their commitment to delivering this important project, and it is our hope to see the successful completion of this project in the near future.
May the bonds between our two countries grow stronger, as we continue to aspire even greater development and progress every year.
Thank you.