The Minister of Foreign Affairs His Excellency Abdulla Shahid has concluded his visit to India. The purpose of his visit was to deliver a keynote address at the Raisina Dialogue 2020.
The Raisina Dialogue is an annual conference hosted by the Observer Research Foundation, in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. The Minister delivered a keynote address at this year’s Conference on 15 January 2020.
The Minister’s remarks at Raisina Dialogue focused on the increasing threat posed by climate change to maritime nations. Minister also urged countries to face a world of increasingly complex challenges such as climate change, poverty, pollution and conflict and chaos, through learning to adapt, and understanding each other, while respecting and understanding differences, and respecting them. “For the Maldives, and, for the world over, climate change can be best described as a security and human rights challenge”, stated Minster, while exploring the urgency of the need to address climate change in a meaningful and sustainable manner.
During the visit, Minister Shahid met with several of his counterparts on the sidelines of the meeting. This includes the Foreign Ministers of India, Czech Republic, Latvia, Russia, Denmark, Hungary, Estonia, and South Africa. Minister Shahid also met with the National Security Advisor of Afghanistan, the Deputy National Security Advisor of the USA, and the Chief of Defense Staff of India. The Foreign Secretary (designate) of India, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, and the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy also called on Minister Shahid.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, and other Ministerial delegates attending the Dialogue, also had a courtesy meeting with the Prime Minister of India.
In addition to the keynote address, the Minister also spoke at a roundtable on Resilient Infrastructure, organized by the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and the Observer Research Foundation, and joined a Facebook Live Event, speaking on climate change and terrorism.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs was accompanied during the visit by Ambassador of Maldives to India Her Excellency Aisha Mohamed Didi, Minister (Deputy Chief of Mission) Ms Aminath Shabeena, as well as Director, Communications Mr Miuvaan Mohamed, and Director, India Section Ms Mariyam Midhfa Naeem,and officials of the Embassy of Maldives in India.
