Maldives to appoint first-ever non-resident ambassador to Palestine

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has revealed he will be appointing a Non-Resident Ambassador to Palestine within the year.

President Solih made the announcement while delivering his third Presidential Address at the first sitting of parliament for the year on Thursday morning.

With this, the Maldives will join the list of world nations that have established formal non-resident missions to the State of Palestine, the sovereignty of which is challenged by Israeli control over Palestinian territory.

During his address, President Solih maintained that the fundamentals of the Maldives' foreign policy were based around protecting and ensuring the safety of the republic and it's citizens, and to prioritize national interests at every turn. He added that defending human rights, upholding democratic values and protecting the nation against adverse effects caused by climate change were also key focus points of the Maldives' foreign policy.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih went on to declare that appointing a Non-Resident Ambassador to the independent State of Palestine would be an additional step in furthering the Maldives' foreign commitments in line with the republic's fundamental policies for the preservation of human rights.

Noting that the Maldives had had strained relationships with international allies in recent years, President Solih remarked that his administrating had given top priority to restore and enhance diplomatic relations with other world nations. He also acknowledged that the Maldives had received great and invaluable aid from foreign allies at a time when countries all over the world had been struggling against the Covid-19 pandemic, and added that this was proof of the significantly improved bilateral and multilateral relationships between Maldives and its allies.

Maldives was being alienated by the international community when the Solih administration took over in 2018, due to his predecessor's testy foreign policy. One example is the country's decision to leave the Commonwealth in 2016 while another was the decision to sever the over 40-year-long diplomatic relations with Iran as well as ties with Qatar.

While the Solih administration began work to rejoin Commonwealth right after taking office, the motion was officially approved last February. Further, the administration restored ties with Qatar just last month, and has formed official bilateral relations with a number of nations.

Following efforts to rebuild the country's reputation within the international community, Maldives saw the arrivals of United States then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in October 2020, which was the first visit by an US diplomat of his rank in 16 years.