On Wednesday, the Cabinet convened to issue a recommendation for the Maldives to ratify the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in South Asia, which President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih will be submitting for Parliamentary approval.

The Cabinet issued the recommendation to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Tuesday, following a virtual meeting held to discuss a paper submitted on the Treaty by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

President Solih has since made the decision to forward the recommendation for parliamentary approval.

The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in South Asia (TAC) was established by the ASEAN nations in 1976, with the aim to develop and maintain multilateral relationships between countries within the ASEAN block based on the provisions of the Treaty. The purpose of the TAC is to promote peace, amity and cooperation among the people of South Asia, which would contribute to enhancing relationships between countries and instill a sense of close solidarity among member nations.

In the paper submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry notes that becoming party to the TAC will help further the bilateral and business relationships between the Maldives and ASEAN countries, while paving the way to acquire international aid in areas of developmental interest for the country.

In addition to this, the Cabinet also presented the president with the recommendation to join two international conventions relating to land-travel regulations, the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (1968) and the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals (1968), on Tuesday.

The Cabinet issued these recommendations to President Solih based on their review of a paper submitted by the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation in a Cabinet meeting held via online means.

While the Cabinet issued recommendations for Maldives to join the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic and the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, the President's Office revealed that the Cabinet had also recommended the Maldives do so with reservations to the former. Cabinet Ministers advised the President to make an exception to the article which states that land-vehicles can be driven after being transported between countries within the convention without registration.

President Solih will be forwarding the decision to join the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, and the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, for parliamentary approval. In the event that Maldives does choose to accede to these two conventions, licenses to drive land-vehicles issued by the Transport Ministry in Maldives will be valid for use in other countries that have joined the convention. The same convenience will also be applicable vice-versa; those who have acquired land-vehicle licenses from countries that have acceded to the two conventions will have their licenses be valid in the Maldives as well.