President Dr Mohamed Muizzu and Pakistan's Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif oversaw the signing of 20 agreements and memoranda of understanding in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Wednesday, 21 October, including one to start direct flights between the two countries. The two leaders also announced a goal of raising bilateral trade to $200 million within two years.
Speaking in a joint statement after the signing, President Muizzu said trade between the Maldives and Pakistan currently stands at $13 million, and that the two countries had decided to raise it to $200 million over the next two years. He said the agreements were important and beneficial for the development of both nations and would take relations to a new level. As the relationship marks 60 years, the foundation laid on Wednesday was an important path towards a new future, he said.
What the 20 Maldives-Pakistan agreements cover
According to the Prime Minister's Office of Pakistan and the President's Office, the agreements signed in the presence of both leaders cover:
- defence cooperation and maritime security
- information technology, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence
- combating illicit trafficking and narcotics
- health, cooperation between food regulators and the recruitment of health professionals
- higher education, research and vocational training
- youth and sports, social protection, and cooperation between police academies and civil service bodies
- agriculture, trade, fisheries, environment and climate change, tourism, arts and culture, parliaments and media
Direct flights between the Maldives and Pakistan
One of the agreements is on starting direct flights between the two countries. No airline, route or start date for the flights was announced on Wednesday, and the full texts of the agreements had not been made public.
What Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said
Prime Minister Sharif said there was "no doubt" the two countries would keep strengthening their relations "for all times to come". He said a large number of Maldivian students study in Pakistan, while Pakistani doctors and allied health professionals serve in the Maldives, and that the two sides had agreed to turn their close ties into a strong economic partnership.
He said Pakistan would provide technical assistance to the Maldives in information technology, referring to the data centres being developed in the Maldives, and that efforts to expand trade would be accelerated to reach the agreed target.
First state visit to Pakistan since 2015
President Muizzu was welcomed with a guard of honour at Prime Minister House on Wednesday morning, accompanied by First Lady Sajidha Mohamed and a government delegation. Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar called on the President earlier in the day.
The President arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday night for the three-day visit, which runs until Thursday, 22 October. It is the first state visit to Pakistan by a Maldivian president since former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom's visit in May 2015, and coincides with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations, established on 26 July 1966. A meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari is also scheduled during the visit, which was announced by the President's Office on Monday.