Male, Jul 19 (PTI) Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs Moosa Zameer will on Saturday embark on a four-day visit to China to hold official talks with his counterpart Wang Yi and meet key Chinese companies that have played a "pivotal role" in the economic development of the archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean.
Zameer will be accompanied by Minister of Finance Mohamed Shafeeq, and Minister of Construction and Infrastructure Abdul Muththlib, along with senior government officials, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release.
This will be Zameer’s first visit to China after he became Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs in November 2023 when the pro-China leader Mohamed Muizzu took charge as the President.
Zameer will undertake an official visit to China from July 20 to 24 at the invitation of Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs and China’s Minister for Foreign Affairs.
During the visit, Zameer will hold official talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang, and meet with the senior officials of the Government. In addition, Minister Zameer will hold discussions with "key Chinese companies that have played a pivotal role in the economic development of the Maldives,” it said.
Zameer visited New Delhi from May 8 to 10 on his first bilateral official visit and met with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar to have bilateral discussions to address pivotal matters aimed at expediting the projects in the Maldives initiated with India's financial assistance.
Zameer's visit to India came amid a downturn in the bilateral ties between the two countries since pro-China president Muizzu assumed office six months back.
President Muizzu, who visited China within weeks of his swearing-in, had insisted on repatriating almost 90 Indian military personnel from his country leading to the relations between the two countries coming under severe strain.
India withdrew them by May 10 and also has continued its financial assistance to various developmental projects in the archipelagic nation.