Vice President Faisal Naseem and the newly appointed High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the Maldives, Rohana Bedagge, have discussed on ways to further enhance bilateral cooperation between both nations.

The high commissioner, who presented his credentials to the president on August 31, called on the Vice President on Thursday morning.

The President’s Office said that the two discussed on the good relations between the Maldives and Sri Lanka, which “predate formal diplomatic relations and have long endured on the basis of our cultural similarities and frequent people to people interactions”.

They also discussed on taking forward bilateral cooperation “on a range of fields from education, culture, performance art and on exploring potential new avenues for collaboration.”

Vice President Naseem also thanked the Sri Lankan government for their efforts to attend to the well-being of the many Maldivians living in Sri Lanka, during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The high commissioner expressed sincere hope that both countries “can soon recover from the disease’s impacts, and focus their energies on rebuilding our respective economies and societies.”

Ending the call, the VP expressed confidence in Bedagge’s ability to progress the already excellent relations between our two countries, while the high commissioner expressed his keenness to work with the present administration towards that end.