The Maldives government today expressed hoped that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit the country "very soon" as it admitted disappointment over his skipping the island nation on a tour to the region in March.

Maldivian Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon said the country was facing "political tension" and that the visit by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was a "signal" that India continues to be a close friend of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Describing the two-day visit by Swaraj as "extremely important", Maumoon expressed happiness at the revival of the India-Maldives Joint Commission after a hiatus of 15 years.

"As you know, we have five decades of very close bilateral ties. I think this is a very significant visit because we have revived the joint commission between India and Maldives.

"We are facing some political tension in this country but at the same time the visit signals the close support that India has for Maldives and its continuation as a close friend of Maldives," she told PTI after her delegation level talks with Swaraj.

She said that the Maldives was "obviously" disappointed when Modi skipped Maldives on his tour to the region in March this year as they had made a lot of preparations.

"I think the situation was such that it was a difficult time and I am very hopeful that he (Modi) would be visiting Maldives very soon in the near future," she said.