Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid concluded his visit to London and departed from the United Kingdom (UK) on Wednesday.
The foreign minister met several high ranking members of the UK government during the official trip which commenced on Saturday.
Minister Shahid held a meeting with Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mark Field and Minister of State for Commonwealth and UN at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon.
At the meeting, Minister Shahid expressed gratitude to the UK government for establishing a British Embassy in Maldives and revealed plans to improve the Maldivian mission in London by appointing a resident ambassador. The ministers also discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries.
Minister Shahid also made a statement at the 29th Governing Council Meeting of Community of Democracies. In his address, the Minister spoke regarding the obstacles faced by Maldives in implementing democratic principles. He also highlighted the Maldivian people's wish to rejoin the Commonwealth.
On Monday, Minister Shahid met Minister of Trade Policy of UK and parliamentarian, George Hollingbery, and conferred about ways to boost trade ties between Maldives and UK.
Minister Shahid also met with parliamentarians Helen Grant, Hugo Swire and Sir David Amess who is also Chair of APPG. During the meeting, approaches of strengthening diplomatic relations were discussed in addition to ways to improve relations between parliamentarians of both countries.
The foreign minister had met Secretary-General of Commonwealth Patricia Scotland earlier. where he expressed his wish to expedite the proceedings of Maldives to rejoin the Commonwealth.
Minister Shahid was accompanied by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Khaleel.
Sign In