Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid, on Saturday, delivered a statement at the ongoing 18th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
Minister Shahid is representing Maldives at the summit which is being held in Baku, Azerbaijan, on behalf President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
Outlining the direction of the incumbent administration, he explained that Maldives was eager to re-engage with the international community, particularly with the NAM members, and would seek to proactively cooperate on shared interests and concerns in the multilateral arena.
The Minister went on to express the importance of NAM adapting to new and non-traditional challenges in the world, such as climate change and terrorism. He asserted that the value of international cooperation amongst member states could only be attained through the recognition of these challenges and the application of collective political will to comprehensively address them.
Concerning climate change, Foreign Minister Shahid spoke on devastating effect on the world’s natural resources such as water, food security and health already being experienced. He also urged the international community to address these challenges and consequences unitedly, assuring that Maldives would always play a leading role in demanding further action.
In addition, Minister Shahid reiterated Maldives’ well-known position on the issue of Palestine, expressing support for the creation of an independent and sovereign state for the Palestinian people.
The foreign minister is being accompanied at the 18th NAM Summit by Foreign Secretary Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, Ambassador-at-large Ahmed Mahir and Additional Secretary Amin Javed Faizal.
NAM comprises of 120 member states, forming one of the largest international organizations after the United Nations (UN). Maldives gained NAM membership in 1976.
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