Amid the ongoing diplomatic row, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday met his Maldivian counterpart Musa Zameer and had a “candid conversation” about the recent troop withdrawal from the island state.

This meeting was held in Uganda’s capital Kampala at a time when bilateral relations between India and Maldives are under strain. The two leaders recently discussed the withdrawal of Indian forces from Maldives as well as issues related to NAM.

“Met Maldives FM @MoosaZameer in Kampala today. A frank conversation on India-Maldives relations. Also discussed issues related to NAM,” Jaishankar posted on Instagram, sharing a photo of the meeting.

Jaishankar was visiting Kampala to represent India at the two-day summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The summit began on Friday.

Maldives Minister Zameer also said that it was a pleasure to meet Jaishankar on the sidelines of the NAM summit.

“We exchanged views on the ongoing high-level discussions on the withdrawal of Indian military personnel as well as on completing ongoing development projects in the Maldives and accelerating cooperation within SAARC and NAM,” he wrote on Twitter.

S Jaishankar on India-Maldives dispute

Last week, Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar had said that amid the ongoing diplomatic dispute with Maldives, it can never be guaranteed that India will get the support of all countries every time.

The minister was speaking at a town hall meeting in Nagpur, Maharashtra, where he also highlighted India’s strides in the last decade in trying to build stronger global ties.

When asked about the Maldives dispute, the External Affairs Minister said, “Politics is politics. I can’t guarantee that in every country, every day, everyone will support us or agree with us. What we’re trying to do, and with great success over the last 10 years, is to build a very strong relationship.”

External Affairs Minister Jaishankar participated in the NAM summit

Jaishankar on Thursday held a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Egypt, Maldives, Angola and Belarus, during which he discussed with them issues of mutual interest and enhancing cooperation in multilateral fora.