Maldivian President to travel to Qatar on March 14 to mark reinstatement of diplomatic ties

Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih is scheduled to travel to Qatar on an official visit next week.

President’s Office spokesperson Mabrook Azeez announced in a tweet on Wednesday that the President is scheduled to travel to Qatar on an official visit on Sunday, March 14.

Mabrook said the President’s visit is to mark the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Maldives and Qatar.

Maldives severed diplomatic relations with Qatar in June 2017 during President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s administration, after Saudi Arabia launched its embargo against Qatar.

The island nation announced the decision to reinstate full diplomatic relations with Qatar on January 6 this year, after Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations lifted the embargo on Qatar, bringing to end a years-long deeply divisive diplomatic crisis.

Reinstating diplomatic relations with both Qatar and the Commonwealth – both of which were severed during Yameen’s administration – had been one of President Solih’s electoral pledges.

The President’s Office reports that after President Solih concludes his visit to Qatar, he will travel to Bangladesh on Wednesday, March 17 to commemorate the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – who served as Bangladesh’s first president and is referred to as the "Father of the Nation" in the country.