His Excellency President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has this morning departed on a State Visit to Sri Lanka, on the invitation of President of Sri Lanka, H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa. President Yameen is accompanied by First Lady Madam Fathimath Ibrahim.
Meeting the local media at the Official Jetty prior to his departure, President Yameen said the purpose of the visit was to further strengthen the existing bilateral ties between the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Underscoring that Sri Lanka has always been the closest ally of the Maldives, President Yameen highlighted that four agreements on bilateral cooperation would be signed during his visit to Sri Lanka.
During the three-day visit, President Yameen will hold one-to-one deliberations with President Rajapaksa on charting the course for future Maldives-Sri Lanka bilateral ties. An official Welcoming Ceremony will be held at the Presidential Secretariat. President Rajapaksa and Sri Lankan First Lady Madam Shirathi Rajapaksa will host President Yameen and First Lady Madam Fathimath Ibrahim for a State Luncheon at the President’s House.
President Yameen is accompanied by a high-level delegation that includes Hon. Qasim Ibrahim, Leader of the Jumhooree Party, Hon. Ahmed Siyam Mohamed, Leader of the Maldives Development Alliance, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Dunya Maumoon, Minister of Tourism, Hon. Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Ghafoor, Minister at the President’s Office, Hon. Mohamed Hussain Shareef, Vice President of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), Hon. Abdul Raheem Abdulla, Minority Leader of Parliament and Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Group of the PPM, Hon. Moosa Zameer, Chief Whip of the Parliamentary Group of the PPM, Hon. Ali Arif, Commissioner of Police Hussain Waheed and the Foreign Secretary, Dr. Ali Naseer Mohamed.
