Japanese foreign minister to visit Maldives

The Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa is scheduled to make an official visit to Maldives in the upcoming weekend.

According to the Maldivian Foreign Ministry, Hayashi’s upcoming visit is in response to an invitation extended by the Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid.

The visit will take place from July 29-30.

During his visit, Hayashi will meet with his Maldivian counterpart Shahid, and with the Maldivian Defense Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi, and other top government officials.

He will also take part in the exchange of notes for the Japan-Maldives Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS).

The last time a senior Japanese government official visited Maldives was in 2018, by the then-Foreign Minister, Taro Kono.

Hayashi's visit is the first high-level visit by a Japanese government official to the Maldives since then.