Maldives appoints Mumbai-based Bobby Mohanty as new honorary Consul

In order to boost trade and tourism from India, the Republic of Maldives has appointed Mumbai-based technocrat, Bobby Mohanty as its honorary Consul. The President of India recognised the appointment on December 3 and Mohanty's tenure is valid till November 2023.
 

The appointment is significant as India-Maldives relationship has been on an upswing for the last two years after the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India aspires to work closely for the realisation of Maldives’ developmental priorities, especially in areas of infrastructure, health-hygiene, connectivity, disaster management and human resources.
 

Mohanty will strive to enhance trade, investment and diplomatic ties between the two countries in several key areas including tourism. "I will leverage my appointment to usher in a new era of co-operation between India and the Maldives. India has praised the government of Maldives’ ‘India First’ foreign policy and reciprocated the same in full measure by its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy in which the Maldives enjoys a very special and central place," Mohanty said.
 

India is Maldives’ fourth largest trade partner after UAE, China and Singapore. Indian imports from the Maldives primarily comprise scrap metal, while Indian exports to the Maldives include a variety of engineering and industrial products like drugs and medicines, radars, rock boulders, aggregates, cement and agriculture produce like rice, spices, fruits, vegetables and poultry produce etc.