United Kingdom’s first resident Ambassador to the Maldives, Carol Rohsla presented her credentials to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Wednesday, along with Sri Lanka’s new Ambassador to Maldives Kohono Walawe.

Separate credentials ceremonies were held at the President’s Office in the morning.

The ceremony was followed by a brief courtesy call, where the new Ambassador expressed her keenness to build on the fruitful bilateral relations between the two nations.

While she expressed interest in giving special regard to areas such as democratic consolidation, human rights and good governance, the ambassador also spoke on the large scope for expanding bilateral and multilateral cooperation on international issues, encompassing trade, environmental preservation, and tourism, among other areas of engagement.

Reciprocating her remarks, President Solih expressed confidence in the new Ambassador in fulfilling her duties.

Until now, the UK Ambassador to the Maldives had been non-resident and based in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Plans to open an UK embassy in the Maldives was announced shortly after the new administration took over.

The President’s Office said that the opening of a British embassy based in the Maldives with a resident Ambassador in-house “represents a significant upgrade in relations between the two countries, and will facilitate greater levels of diplomatic engagement.”

It added that the government looks forward to the Embassy changing to a High Commission and the Ambassador’s formal designation changing to High Commissioner in the near future, noting that Maldives “is well ahead of schedule” in the process of rejoining the Commonwealth.

During the meeting held after the credential ceremony, Sri Lanka’s new Ambassador expressed his joy at taking up his new posting and expressed his keenness to build on the work of his predecessors to further strengthen the already excellent relations between the two countries

President Solih congratulated Ambassador Walawe and expressed that his administration’s readiness to do “all it can” to improve cooperation on bilateral and multilateral issues of common interest between Sri Lanka and the Maldives, including trade, consular cooperation, tourism, maritime collaboration and environmental preservation.

Both parties also discussed the “forward path for bilateral relations between the two countries.”

Ending the call, the President expressed his full confidence that the new ambassador will do an excellent job in executing his new responsibilities, and wished him luck as he takes up his new diplomatic posting.