Male’, Maldives – United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has arrived in Maldives on his visit to the Asian countries after attending the “Indo-Pacific Alliance” meeting in India.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo was welcomed by Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and the Chief of Staff Ali Zahir.
According to official sources, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo would hold official discussions over strengthening the military relationship and financial aid provided by the United States to the Maldives.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo is to meet with President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih first. Next he would be meeting the Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid, in which official discussions on assisting in the battle against Covid-19 and bilateral relationship of the two countries would be carried out.
In addition to this, discussions on the stability of the Indian Ocean and the war against terrorism would also be included in the Secretary of State Pompeo’s meeting with the Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid. Maldives and the United States already have existing relationships on the peace keeping in the Indian Ocean, war against extremism and operations needed in natural disasters.
Government of Maldives had announced that Secretary of State Pompeo would be addressing all such areas and also would speak about increasing and facilitation of more opportunities for the Maldives.
One of the most important discussions to be carried out in Secretary of State Pompeo’s visit is of establishing of an American Embassy in the Maldives. Government of Maldives stated that this would facilitate the strengthening of the relationship between the two countries and also pave way for more educational opportunists for Maldivians from the United States.
United States has also aided Maldives through Agency for International Development (USAid) in giving 60 ventilators to strengthen the Maldives effort on combating the Covid-19 pandemic and also pledged to give USD 2 million in aid to Maldives.
Maldives has recently signed an agreement with the United States on strengthening the military relationship which has been praised and supported by India stating that the agreement shows the Maldives policy on the Indian Ocean very clearly.
Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid has visited the United States on an invitation of Secretary of State Pompeo in February this year, in which discussions of assistance on various sectors was also carried out.
Secretary of State and the former chief of the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Michael Pompeo is the first incumbent Secretary of State of the United States to visit the Maldives, since Secretary James Addison Baker’s official trip to the country in 1992.
