The Secretary of State of the United States of America, Michael R. Pompeo has paid a courtesy call on President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih today at the President’s Office. The call occurred within the context of the first visit by an incumbent U.S. Secretary of State to the Maldives, since Secretary James Addison Baker’s official trip to the country in 1992, and is emblematic of the increasingly strong bilateral relationship between the two nations.
The President and the Secretary spoke with regard to a wide range of issues. Discussions pertained to 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. President Solih and Secretary Pompeo also spoke with regard to plans to open a resident American embassy in the Maldives.
In recent years, the U.S. has become an increasingly important development partner to the Maldives. This has been further reflected in the generous and timely assistance they have provided the country throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
In addition to medical equipment provided by the United States, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has repurposed approximately US$2 million of their funding to help the country recover from the economic impacts of the coronavirus. USAID funding has also been instrumental in strengthening the Maldives’ environmental conservation efforts.
Through the Development Objective Grant Assistance (DOAG), signed between the Maldives and the U.S. on March 12, 2019, the United States has agreed to provide the Maldives with development funding worth up to US$35 million.
While welcoming the Secretary to the Maldives, the President thanked him for the U.S. Government’s generous assistance towards the Maldives and their increasingly active and positive engagement with the Maldives on many important bilateral spheres. Ending the call, the President and Secretary affirmed their mutual commitment to work towards strengthening Maldives-US ties.
