Arjun Bahadur Thapa, the outgoing Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), on Tuesday paid a farewell call on Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Mohamed Asim.
At the meeting, Minister Asim expressed his appreciation for the Secretary General’s work and wished him well in his future endeavors. The Minister reiterated the importance the Maldives attaches to SAARC and assured that the Maldives will support any pathway which ensures that the SAARC process moves forward efficiently in an effective manner. He also acknowledged the progress SAARC made over the last few years and assured the commitment of the Government of Maldives to strengthening SAARC.
The SAARC Secretary General also paid a farewell call on Foreign Secretary Dr. Ali Naseer Mohamed.
During the meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Secretary thanked the Secretary General for the leadership and guidance during his tenure as the Secretary General of SAARC. The Foreign Secretary acknowledged there has been much forward momentum built in SAARC and expressed the desire for it to be maintained.
The Secretary General is scheduled to complete his tenure at the end of February 2017 and the Foreign Secretary wished the Secretary General well in his future endeavors.
The meeting were attended by Ahmed Khaleel, Secretary, Bilateral, and Aishath Azeema, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Fathimath Najwa, Director at the SAARC Secretariat.
A lunch was hosted by the Foreign Secretary Tuesday afternoon in honour of the Secretary General.