Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Khaleel has met the First Assistant Secretary for the North and South Asia Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia, Gary Cowan.

The meeting was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.

State Minister Khaleel and First Assistant Secretary Cowan shed light on the strong bilateral cooperation between the two countries across several sectors including human resource development, human rights, democracy and the rule of law as well as security cooperation.

They also spoke regarding enhanced bilateral relations between Maldives and Australia in the recent years, particularly with the opening of the Australian High Commission in the capital Malé City.

Discussions also revolved around the cordial ties in multilateral arena on issues of mutual interest.

Further, they shed light on the strong commitment of both governments to enhance peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region.

Since Cowan’s ongoing visit to Maldives coincides with the farewell of Australian High Commissioner to the Maldives Paul Stephens, State Minister Khaleel expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the High Commissioner and the team in the Australian High Commission in Colombo for their resilient work and contributions over the course of the years to strengthen the partnership between the two countries.

Australian High Commissioner to the Maldives Paul Stephens, Deputy High Commissioner Andrew Hodges, Second Secretary Lara Sveinsson and Policy Officer Nikola Damjanovski joined the meeting as well.

Joint Secretary Shiuneen Rasheed and Desk Officer Saifulla Waleed accompanied State Minister Khaleel at the discussions.