India and the Maldives will set up a joint working group to explore ways of improving tourism ties between the two countries, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma said today.
"We want to take the tourism relations with Maldives to new height. With the formation of joint working group, both the countries will see what best can be done to give a boost to tourism," Sharma told reporters after meeting wit a delegation led by Maldives Tourism Minister Moosa Zameer here.
He said India would also sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Maldives for cooperation in the field of tourism to further increase tourist traffic between the two countries.
Stating that "relationship with Maldives as a neighbouring country has been since a long time", Sharma said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always given importance to this relationship.
He also said that Indian Hotels, including Oberoi, is planning to set up facilities in Maldives.
Zameer said both the countries would "work together" as a "lot could be done" in the field of tourism like medical and high-end tourism.
Stating that last year about 50,000 Indian had visited Maldives, he said the number of tourists going from India is "growing".
He said India and Maldives would also try to "improve the civil aviation connectivity" between them for easy flow of tourists.
"There is a lot of scope for India and Maldives to work together to take the relationship between the two countries to the next level," he said.
