Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia Reed Werner and Maldivian Minister of Defense Mariya Didi signed the “Framework for U.S. Department of Defense-Maldives Ministry of Defence Defense and Security Relationship” in Philadelphia on September 10.
The Framework sets forth both countries’ intent to deepen engagement and cooperation in support of maintaining peace and security in the Indian Ocean, and marks an important step forward in the defense partnership.
The Maldives National Defence Force is the combined security organisation responsible for defending the security and sovereignty of the Maldives, having the primary task of being responsible for attending to all internal and external security needs of the Maldives, including the protection of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and the maintenance of peace and security. With the separation of police as a civil body, the mission and duties of the National Security Service (NSS) had to be revised. This revision envisaged a totally different turn for the organization. Hence, to carryout the newly derived mission and tasks, the core of its structure had to be modified and redesigned.