Discussions held on upholding the principles of a stable, open and peaceful Indian Ocean region.

The discussions were held between President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and the United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, during his official visit to the country.

The U.S Secretary of State arrived on Wednesday afternoon and this is his maiden visit to the Maldives.

During the courtesy call to the president upon arrival, the discussions were held in a wide variety of topics including strengthening bilateral relations and multilateral cooperation; trade and investment facilitation; environmental conservation; cyber security and combatting terrorism.

Plans to open a resident American embassy in the Maldives were also discussed.

Pompeo's visit is the first since Secretary James Addison Baker’s official trip to the country in 1992, and is an emblem of the strong bilateral relationship between the two nations.

America has become an increasingly important development partner to Maldives in recent years.

The generous assistance provided throughout the Covid-19 pandemic has reflected this fact.

Recently, U.S Agency for International Development repurposed approximately USD two million of their funding to assist the island nation's recovery efforts, in addition to the U.S government's provision of medical equipment.

USAID funding has also been instrumental in strengthening Maldives' environmental conservation efforts.

U.S. agreed to provide the Maldives with development funding worth up to US$35 million through the Development Objective Grant Assistance signed between Maldives and U.S. on march 12, last year.

Welcoming Pompeo to Maldives, Solih expressed his gratitude for the American government's generosity in providing assistance towards the Maldives and their "increasingly active" and "positive engagement" with the Maldives on many important bilateral spheres.

Maldives President and Pompeo affirmed their mutual commitment to work towards strengthening Maldives-U.S. relations.