Foreign ministry said the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of UK Hugo Swire arrived in Maldives on a two-day official visit. He was welcomed at the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) by foreign secretary Ali Naseer. The ministry, however, did not give details of Swire's visit. Swire, who had visited the Maldives on several occasions, is known to be a critic of the Maldives government. He has led the UK government’s criticism of the Maldives over the imprisonment of several politicians, including former president Mohamed Nasheed In August, he expressed concern over the re-imprisonment of Nasheed after a period of house arrest. Nasheed, who leads opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), is serving a 13-year prison sentence over the arbitrary detention of Chief Criminal Judge Abdulla Mohamed during his tenure as president. Swire’s visit comes a day after the government allowed Nasheed to seek medical abroad in the UK. Nasheed had sought permission to go abroad for a surgery on his back, but Correctional Service had repeatedly denied the request insisting that the microdiscectomy surgery could be done in the Maldives. Foreign ministry announced on twitter Saturday the government had granted permission to Nasheed to travel to UK to undergo surgery, at his request. Home minister Umar Naseer insisted Saturday that the surgery could be done in Maldives, but stressed that the government was forced to grant the permission after a legal opinion by the attorney general. Attorney general Mohamed Anil had advised the government that former presidents are afforded privileges and that they can be allowed to seek medical treatment abroad even if the procedure is available from local hospitals, he added. The UK minister had most recently criticised the Maldives after the government in November declared state of emergency following two assassination attempts on the president. The month-long state of emergency was cut short after a week.