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Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan will pay an official visit to Djibouti on September 21-22, 2022 in his first visit to the country.
During the visit, MoS will call on the Prime Minister of Djibouti Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed and will hold talks with Foreign Minister, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf and other dignitaries on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest. He will also interact with the Indian community in Djibouti, reported the Ministry of External Affairs press release. During the visit, an Agreement on the exemption from visa requirement for holders of Diplomatic & Official/Service Passports; and MoU between the Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service (SSIFS) and the Institute of Diplomatic Studies (IDS) of Djibouti will also be signed, added the release. India and Djibouti share warm and friendly relations underpinned by historical and cultural linkages. Djibouti extended extraordinary support in the evacuation of Indian nationals from war-torn Yemen in 2015 (Operation Rahat). Under Operation Rahat, India evacuated nearly 5,600 people from Yemen. In 2015, a conflict raged between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels. Thousands of Indians were stranded and Yemen was not accessible by air due to a no-fly zone announced by Saudi Arabia. Ram Nath Kovind, the then President of India, paid a State Visit to Djibouti in October 2017. India opened Mission in Djibouti in 2019. Bilateral trade between the two countries was valued at USD 755 million in 2021-22. A sizeable Indian community is living in Djibouti. The visit is expected to provide further momentum to the bilateral ties between India and Djibouti. (ANI)
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