Male, Jun 8: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India will help promote cricket in the Maldives and fulfil President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's mission to develop the sport in the country to consolidate people-to-people relations.
Modi gifted a cricket bat to Solih signed by the Indian cricket team after holding bilateral talks.
"Connected by cricket! My friend, President Solih is an ardent cricket fan, so I presented him a cricket bat that has been signed by Team India playing at the CWC2019," Modi said on Twitter.
India is helping in training Maldivian cricket players and bringing it up to the requisite standard, the External Affairs Ministry said in New Delhi on Thursday.
India is also looking into constructing a stadium in the Island nation which is another request made by it, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said.
He said the ministry is working with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to train Maldivian cricketers.
"A team from the BCCI visited the Maldives earlier in May for training of Maldivian cricketers, organising coaching programmes and supply of kits," he said.
To consolidate people-to-people relations, Modi's latest emphasis is on cricket diplomacy in the island nation, helping the mission of President Solih to develop cricket, official sources said.
In April, Solih attended an Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Bengaluru and subsequently expressed interest to develop a cricket team in the Maldives and sought India's assistance in training this team and bringing it up to the requisite standard.
Modi arrived in the Maldives on Saturday on his first foreign visit after re-election as Prime Minister to strengthen the bilateral ties.
While Modi visited the Maldives in November 2018 to attend President Solih's swearing-in, this visit is the first by an Indian prime minister at a bilateral level in eight years.
The two-day state visit of Prime Minister Modi is aimed at further cementing ties with the Indian Ocean archipelago.
India in March assured the Maldives that it will "positively consider" its request to help build a cricket stadium in the island nation during then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's visit.
A joint statement at the end of Swaraj's visit to the Maldives in March said that the Maldivian side requested Indian assistance for the construction of a cricket stadium.
"The Indian side agreed to positively consider the request," it said.
Cricket Board of Maldives governs the gentleman's game in the island nation. It became a member of the Asian Cricket Council and an affiliate of the International Cricket Council in 1998.
The Maldives national cricket team represents the country in international cricket. It made its Twenty20 International debut in January this year after the International Cricket Council decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members.
Indians are the second largest expatriate community in the Maldives with approximate strength of around 22,000.
Connected by cricket!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 8, 2019
My friend, President @ibusolih is an ardent cricket fan, so I presented him a cricket bat that has been signed by #TeamIndia playing at the #CWC19. pic.twitter.com/G0pggAZ60e
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New Delhi (PTI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday said he had "good and positive" discussions with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda on the issue of government formation in the state.
Speaking to reporters here before leaving for Mumbai, Shinde said the decision on the next chief minister of Maharashtra will be taken "in a day or two" in another meeting of the Mahayuti coalition in the state capital.
Shinde, along with Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, met Shah and Nadda late Thursday to thrash out a power-sharing pact for the next government in Maharashtra after the BJP-led coalition registered a thumping majority in the Assembly elections.
"We will take a decision (on Maharashtra CM) in a day or two. We have held discussions, and the discussions will continue. You will get to know when we take a final decision," the outgoing chief minister said.
Shinde said that he would not be an obstacle in the government formation in the state and abide by the decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah.
"This 'ladka bhau' (beloved brother) designation is higher than anything else for me," he said.
Shinde said the meeting with Shah and Nadda was "good and positive".
"We all discussed the formation of government. There is good coordination between the allies, we are all very positive and we will honour the clear-cut mandate given to us by the people. We will form the government soon," he said.
"The meeting was good and positive. This was the first meeting. There will be another meeting of the Mahayuti in Mumbai," Shinde told reporters early Friday.
The Shiv Sena leader said the people of Maharashtra have re-elected them with a thumping majority and respecting the mandate is the topmost priority, not "running after posts".
Recovering from its Lok Sabha elections losses, the BJP bagged 132 Assembly seats, the highest among all constituents of the Mahayuti alliance. Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP also performed well. Sena won 57 while NCP bagged 41 seats.
The Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a setback with the grand old party registering one of its worst performances in the Assembly polls as it won only 16 seats. Sharad Pawar's NCP(SP) won just 10 seats, whereas Uddhav Thackeray's (UBT) won 20 seats.
The Maharashtra Assembly elections were held on November 20, and the results were declared on November 23.