US Secretary of State Pompeo arrives in Maldives on official visit

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (CR) is welcomed upon arrival at Velana International Airport by Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid (CL) on October 28, 2020. (Photo/Foreign Ministry)

The United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived in Maldives on an official visit.

He was welcomed upon arrival at the Velana International Airport (VIA) on Wednesday afternoon by Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid.

Pompeo, during his visit to Maldives, will pay a courtesy call on President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and engage in official talks with Shahid.

The talks will focus on the global response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as well as ongoing and future collaborations between Maldives and the US, said the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is welcomed upon arrival at Velana International Airport on October 28, 2020. (Photo/Foreign Ministry)

Shahid had travelled to Washington to meet with Pompeo on February 19, 2019, in response to an invitation extended to him by Pompeo.

Pompeo’s visit is the highest-level visit by a US government official to Maldives, since the visit of US Secretary of State James Addison Baker III back on July 24, 1992.