Your Excellency Anura Kumara Disanayaka, President of Sri Lanka,
Honorable Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka,
Honourable Ministers,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Good evening and
Allow me at the outset to thank my dear friend, President Disanayaka, for the warm and gracious sentiments you have expressed about me and the Maldives.
May I also thank the Government and neighbourly people of Sri Lanka for the warm welcome and generous hospitality accorded to me, my wife Sajidha and members of my delegation, since our arrival in Sri Lanka.
It gives me immense joy and heartfelt warmth to be in Sri Lanka, a country that has long been a part of the Maldivian story.
This evening is not just a celebration of diplomacy. It is a celebration of a friendship that flows gently and deeply, like the ocean that connects our two island homes.
For centuries, the waves between our shores have carried more than trade and travellers.
They have carried trust. They have carried love. They have carried the rhythm of two peoples who have learned to live, not in competition, but in companionship.
When Maldivians speak of Sri Lanka, it is with affection, as a close neighbour, who feels like family, as a place where our children have learned, our families and friends have healed, and our hearts have always felt at home.
These ties of humanity, humble, sincere, and enduring, are the golden threads that bind our nations together.
Excellencies,
Our friendship has weathered the tests of time, anchored not in convenience, but in genuine respect.
Through every era, Sri Lanka has extended a steady hand of friendship to the Maldives.
You have helped nurture our progress, shaping the very foundations upon which our nation stands today.
For this, the Maldivian people hold deep gratitude. And as we now journey forward, our partnership continues to blossom, reaching new frontiers in digital transformation, sustainable tourism, renewable energy, and ocean conservation.
Together, we can turn the Indian Ocean, once a passage of merchants, into a living bridge of innovation, prosperity, and shared hope.
For both our nations, the ocean is not a border, it is the road home. It has whispered our histories and carried our hopes.
It sustains our economies, shapes our culture, and teaches us the quiet wisdom of coexistence.
It also reminds us of our shared responsibility, to protect the fragile ecosystems that cradle our lives and livelihoods.
The ocean does not divide us. It unites us. And in that unity lies our greatest strength, to ensure that the Indian Ocean remains a sea of peace, stability, and opportunity for all who call it home.
Our two nations know well the language of resilience.
We have both faced storms, natural and man-made, and each time, we have risen with dignity and determination.
In rebuilding after hardship, we have learned that progress is not measured only by what we build, but by the compassion we extend to one another.
Excellencies,
Climate change is the defining challenge of our time. It is not a distant worry, it is our daily reality. Together, we must continue to raise our voices for climate justice, for the right of small nations to survive and to thrive.
Let us turn our shared vulnerability into shared strength, by joining hands in innovation, resilience, and global advocacy.
Ultimately, it is our people who give meaning to our diplomacy. It is they who breathe life into every agreement, and purpose into every partnership.
Excellencies,
Sri Lanka has long inspired us, with its achievements in literacy, healthcare, and human development.
As we look to the future, we aspire to deepen this bond, to create opportunities in education, training, and technology that empower our youth and uplift our societies.
Because every student we nurture, every life we heal, every mind we inspire, is an investment in a more peaceful and prosperous region.
Excellencies,
Our friendship is not written merely in official communiqués. It lives in our stories, in the laughter of our children who grow up knowing both our flags, our languages, and our food.
The warmth exchanged between our citizens across generations, and in the quiet pride we share when one nation celebrates the success of the other.
Such bonds cannot be manufactured; they are felt, they are lived, they are cherished.
Before I close, I am reminded of a truth that resonates across the Indian Ocean:
The horizon is vast, but it always connects the sky and the sea.
So too does our friendship, stretching far, but always meeting at a point of shared purpose and mutual respect.
Let us continue to walk this horizon together, with gratitude for our past, confidence in our present, and faith in our shared future.
I wish Your Excellency good health and wellbeing, and continued prosperity and progress for the friendly people of Sri Lanka.
May the close ties of friendship and cooperation between the Maldives and Sri Lanka grow from strength to strength in the years to come!
Long live the Maldives-Sri Lanka friendship.
Bohoma stuti (thank you).
Thank you.