Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, the United Kingdom Minister of State for South and Central Asia, the UN and the Commonwealth, and Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict of the UK, has discussed the growth of defence engagement and security cooperation between Maldives and UK with the Minister of Defence and National Security, Mariya Ahmed Didi.

This was done during a courtesy call paid by Lord Ahmad on the Maldivian minister on Tuesday, after touching down in the Maldives on his official visit earlier on Tuesday.

Thanking the government of UK for the “excellent” cooperation and assistance extended especially in the sectors of defence and security, Minister Mariya stated that this indicated a fresh incentive to a positive diplomatic trajectory in the past three years.

Further, she welcomed the new chapter in the age-old security friendship between both countries after a gap of over 10 years with the initiative of training programs and exercises with the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).

Even in the face of Covid-19, the government of UK opened up its “prestigious” military institutions to the servicemen in Maldives, said the minister, who stated that his allowed the continuation of a tradition that has produced key leaders including many General Officers.

Discussions also revolved around ways to boost the cooperation between the two countries in key areas of mutual interest including counterterrorism, aviation security, humanitarian assistance, and narco-trafficking.

Lord Ahmad expressed commitment of the UK government to boost cooperation with the Maldives and welcomed the government’s interest in fostering human rights and democracy.

The meeting was joined by Vice Chief of Defence Force Brigadier General Abdul Raheem Abdul Latheef, Military Secretary Brigadier General Abdul Matheen Ahmed, DIDC Principal Director LTC Ahmed Shareef, Director General of Aviation Security Administration Hussain Nazeef, Director of National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) LTC Ibrahim Naeem and Operations Director of Aviation Security Command Major Ahmed Shafeeq.

Lord Ahmad was received by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Khaleel and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Velana International Airport on Tuesday morning.

This is the first high level visit to the Maldives from the United Kingdom since 2018.