Focus on cricket diplomacy as PM Modi gifts bat to Maldives prez Solih

Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi gifted a cricket bat to Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih signed by the Indian cricket team after holding bilateral talks.

Modi said India will help promote cricket in the Maldives and fulfill President Solih’s mission to develop the sport in the country to consolidate people-to-people relations.

“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 (June 6).

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.

Modi arrived in the Maldives on Saturday on his first foreign visit after re-election as Prime Minister to strengthen the bilateral ties.

Also read: Kerala as dear to me as Varanasi, says Modi in Guruvayur