Seychelles President: Maldives’ visit highly successful

Seychelles' President Wavel Ramkalawan has described his state visit to Maldives as highly successful.

Ramakalawan and his wife, First Lady of Seychelles Linda Ramkalawan arrived in the Maldives on a state visit on Sunday afternoon at the invitation of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

Seychelles media outlets, citing Seychelles President’s Office, said Ramkalawan has described his state visit to Maldives as highly successful.

“The relations between Seychelles and the Maldives are now at a higher level. We have now identified various common issues on which we will stand by each other on the international scene. These include climate change, economic development, development of the tourism industry and putting emphasis on the establishment of the Multi-dimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) and the Loss and Damage fund,” he was reported to have said.

Ramkalawan further stated that as Indian Ocean neighbors, “the support to each other to maintain the Indian Ocean region as a zone of peace and for greater cooperation in the domain of maritime security are also important obligations we will fulfill.”

He also wished Maldives a peaceful election.

During the visit, Ramkalawan and President Solih met for bilateral talks to enhance diplomatic relations between both nations. They delivered a joint statement following the talks.

Four agreements were also exchanged between the nations including an agreement on mutual exemption of visa requirements, an air services agreement, an agreement on the development of the youth, and an agreement to cooperate on combatting transnational organized crime and maritime and security safety threats.

Ramkalawan also met with Maldivian Vice President Faisal Naseem and Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid.

He also toured some ongoing projects in the Maldives and visited some landmarks.

Maldives and Seychelles established diplomatic relations on July 1^st, 1980.