President Mohamed Nasheed met on Wednesday, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan, during which they discusses bilateral relations and regional issues.

Prime Minister Gilani noted that Maldives and Pakistan share very close relations and expressed desire to maintain and continue these relations.

In this regard he said that Pakistan would "continue to contribute to the human resource development of the Maldives" and that Pakistan would continue to offer scholarships to Maldivian students.

President Nasheed thanked the Pakistani government for all the assistance to the Maldives. He said Pakistan was a development partner of Maldives.

On SAARC, President said now that Maldives is more dynamic, Maldives would like to see a more active SAARC. He said greater regional cooperation could be established in trade and economic issues.

He further said that climate change was a major issue for the Maldives and that Maldives now had to face related issues such as water shortage.

The Prime Minister said Pakistan would cooperate with the Maldives on the issue of climate change.

The two leaders also discussed developing greater cooperation between the two countries in areas of counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics.