President and First Lady return to Male’, on conclusion of official visit to Nepal to attend the 18th SAARC Summit

President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom and First Lady Fathimath Ibrahim have returned to Male’ on Thursday evening, on conclusion of their official visit to Nepal to attend the 18th SAARC Summit.

In his address at the inaugural session of the Summit, the President called for collective action among the SAARC member states in working towards the mutual benefit of the region. In this spirit, the foreign ministers of all eight SAARC countries signed the SAARC Framework Agreement for Energy Cooperation (Electricty), at the concluding session of the Summit, on Thursday.The Agreement was signed on behalf of the Government of Maldives by Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon. Dunya Maumoon.

President Yameen also met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan, and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit. During these meetings, the President highlighted the commitment of the Maldivian Government to further strengthening relations with these South Asian states, while also discussing approaches to make SAARC a more dynamic organization.