Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid has met with a number of State Ministers who participated in the Indian Ocean Conference held in Maldives from 3 – 4 September.
The minister was called on by State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Toshiko Abe, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh Shahriar Alam and Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Papua New Guinea, Sekie Agisa on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the 4th edition of IOC which concluded on Wednesday.
During separate meetings, FM Shahid had held several discussions on development, cooperation in multiple arenas as well as peace and security of the Indian Ocean region.
State Minister Abe joined FM Shahid for discussions on cooperation in areas such as economy, people-to-people contact as well as international issues that concern both parties.
“Japan is one of the closest development partners of Maldives, and one of the first countries I visited after assuming office in Nov 2018”Maldives Foreign Minister Shahid.
Looking forward to strengthen the strong cooperation between both countries, he added.
In addition, FM Shahid went on to assure the Japanese delegate of the Maldivian government’s commitment to further enhance existing bilateral relations, noting that Japan has provided key assistance in areas such as environment, health and technical capacity building.
FM Shahid was accompanied by Minister if State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Khaleel, Foreign Secretary Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, and Assistant Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bassama Farooq.
Following the meeting with State Minister Alam, Shahid took to twitter, highlighting that Bangladesh is an important partner of Maldives as we work together to ensure a safe Indian Ocean.
The pair went on to stress on the importance of engaging closely on sharing intelligence for countering radicalism and violent extremism in the fight against terrorism as well as the significance of peace, stability and security of the region.
FM Shahid also shed light on the South Asian country’s valuable contribution to the socio-economic development of Maldives as well as their assistance in capacity building in areas of defense, civil service and health.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also revealed that State Minister Alam had conveyed appreciation for the efforts put in by the government of Maldives to improve the welfare of undocumented Bangladeshi workers in the country, assuring his government’s full cooperation.
FM Shahid was accompanied at the meeting by the State Minister Khaleel, Foreign Secretary Ghafoor, and Joint Secretary at the ministry Fathmath Ghina.
Consecutively, FM Shahid discussed fostering closer collaboration to address the negative impacts of climate change, with Vice Minister Agisa.
“Looking forward to strengthen the bilateral relations we have enjoyed since 1988”Maldives Foreign Minister Shahid.
While discussions were held on enforcing bilateral ties between both countries, this meeting was joined by Khaleel, Ghafoor, Foreign Secretary Shiuneen Rasheed and Director Fathmath Razana.
