Male’, Maldives – Opposition coalition’s member party Peoples National Congress (PNC)’s vice president, Ibrahim Shujau has said that Speaker of Parliament, Former President Mohamed Nasheed was not given the opportunity to meet with the United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo by the government.
In a tweet posted by Shujau, he said that Speaker Nasheed was furious that he was not given an appointment to meet with the Secretary of States and that Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid had said that America had no interest in meeting with the Speaker of Parliament and former president.
Mauloomaathu libey gothugai Sarukaarun America ge Secretary of State @SecPompeo appointment eh @MohamedNasheed ah hama nujjesumun RN varah bodah rulhi dhuru vejje. America in RN aa badhalu kuran maa interest eh netho @abdulla_shahid eba vidhaalhuve. Kobaiba Hageegathakee ??
— Ibrahim Shujau 💙 (@shuja3831) October 28, 2020
During the short visit to the Maldives by United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, he only met with the Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and paid a courtesy call on President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. The U.S Secretary of State did not meet any other party during the trip.
Discussions were held on strengthening bilateral relations and multilateral cooperation; trade and investment facilitation; environmental conservation; cybersecurity; combatting terrorism; and upholding the principle of a stable, open and peaceful Indian Ocean region with the U.S Secretary of State.
In addition to this, President Solih and Secretary Pompeo also spoke with regard to plans to open a resident American embassy in the Maldives. 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.
