A 21-gun salute at Islamabad International Airport on Tuesday opened a visit eleven years in the making. Maldives President Dr Mohamed Muizzu arrived in Pakistan for a three-day state visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to sources.
President Muizzu is accompanied by First Lady Sajidha Mohamed and a high-level delegation of cabinet ministers and senior officials. According to sources, part of the delegation, led by Foreign Minister Iruthisham Adam, arrived earlier the same day.
According to the Prime Minister's Office, the visiting president will receive an official welcome at the Prime Minister's House on Wednesday. He will meet President Asif Ali Zardari, who will host a state banquet in his honour, and hold restricted and delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz.
The Foreign Office spokesperson said the two leaders would review the full range of bilateral ties and explore closer cooperation in trade, investment, health, education, tourism, agriculture, defence, maritime security, climate change and people-to-people exchanges.
The visit will also feature a Pakistan-Maldives Business Forum to bring the two business communities closer, and several agreements and memorandums of understanding are expected to be signed, the official statement said.
The visit comes as the two countries mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations. According to the Maldivian President's Office, ties were established on July 26, 1966, and this is the first high-level bilateral engagement between the two countries in more than a decade.