Malé, Maldives – President Ibrahim Mohamed has paid a courtesy call on the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, His Excellency Gotabaya Rajapaksa, during his current unofficial private visit to Sri Lanka.
The call was held at the Presidential Secretariat of Sri Lanka, in Colombo, this morning.
President Solih and President Rajapaksa discussed the unprecedented challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic poses to their respective countries and their citizens’ well-being. They outlined the steps being taken to ensure that their facilities do not become overburdened, emphasising that vaccination is their top priority for a faster and sustainable recovery.
The Maldives has vaccinated over 72.97 per cent of the eligible population with the first dose of vaccinations and 59.07 per cent with the second dose. The Maldives reopened for tourism in July 2020, following border control precautions, and has since welcomed over 700,000 tourists.
Ending the call, President Solih and President Rajapaksa reaffirmed their mutual commitment to further enhance Maldives-Sri Lanka cooperation in the years ahead. President Solih was accompanied at the meeting by the High Commissioner of Maldives to Sri Lanka, Mr Omar Abdul Razzak and the Maldives’ Special Envoy for Climate Change, Ms Sabra Noordeen.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and First Lady Fazna Ahmed departed on an unofficial visit to Sri Lanka on 20 July 2021 and are expected to return to the Maldives tomorrow, 23 July 2021.
