The Maldives and India have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the reciprocal recognition of their COVID-19 vaccination certificates. The MoU was signed at a ceremony in the presence of the Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar and the Maldivian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid.
At the ceremony, Minister of Health Ahmed Naseem and the High Commissioner of India to the Maldives Munu Mahawar exchanged the MoU for the reciprocal recognition of the COVID-19 vaccination certificate. The MoU will ensure recognition of the Indian COVID-19 vaccination certificate and the Maldivian COVID-19 digital certificate and facilitate easier travel between the two countries.
Also at the ceremony, a peering agreement between the National Centre for Information Technology (NCIT) and the National Informatics Centre (NIC) of India was exchanged, followed by the launch of a connectivity agreement between the Higher Education Network of Maldives (HNM) and the National Knowledge Network of India (NKN). The intention of the agreement is to recognise the general basis for a cooperative and collaborative working relationship between NCIT and NIC, in the areas of Information and communications technology, which will greatly improve connectivity and collaboration in an abundance of fields pursued by India, including e-governance, digital distanced education, security, space, weather, and e-health.
The agreements were signed during the visit of Minister Jaishankar to the Maldives at the invitation of Minister Shahid.