Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid has arrived in the United States (US) to officially inaugurate the Embassy of the Maldives in Washington, DC. He was warmly welcomed at the airport by Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, the Ambassador of the Maldives to the US.
In a tweet, Minister Shahid expressed his excitement about opening the Maldives embassy and revealed his plans to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his visit. He further mentioned that discussions on important matters of mutual interest will take place, with the aim of strengthening the bilateral relationship between the two countries.
Presently, diplomatic relations between the Maldives and the US are managed through the US Embassy in Sri Lanka, while the Maldives is represented in the US through its mission at the United Nations. However, the decision to establish embassies in both the Maldives and the US was announced during the visit of then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the Maldives in 2020. The new US embassy will be situated in the recently constructed Umar Zahir Office Building in Hulhumale'.
The inauguration of the Maldives embassy in Washington, DC signifies an important milestone in the diplomatic relations between the Maldives and the US, allowing for more direct and enhanced engagement between the two nations.