President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has decided to make India the country for his maiden visit to a foreign country as Maldives President.
President’s Office Spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz said the President has will visit India on 22 December in reply to an invitation extended by Prime Minister Mamohan Singh.
He said the President is scheduled to have official meetings with the Prime Minister and a number of senior Indian government officials during the three-day visit, where heads of the two governments will talk about enhancing avenues of cooperation.
Indian newspaper Deccan Herald reports that the trip will help India reach out to the new Maldivian government and remove any past misgivings. It also says that President Yameen is to attend the convocation of the SAARC-established South Asian University (SAU) on Dec 24, as the event’s guest of honor.
The university, established in 2010, had to cancel its first convocation of Dec 6 after the SAARC General Secretary, former head of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) Ahmed Saleem (Nanreethi Saleem) was unable to travel for the event.
The Indian High Commission in the Maldives and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were quick to congratulate President Yameen on his inauguration in mid November.