The Maldives hopes to see the United States open a first embassy in the country at the end of the year, or early next, and the Indian Ocean state hopes to reopen its embassy in Washington by the end of this year, the Maldivian foreign minister said on Sunday.
U.S. diplomatic dealings with the Maldives are currently handled through the U.S. embassy in politically troubled Sri Lanka, while the Maldives is represented in the United States via its mission to the United Nations.
Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid told an event in New York hosted by a U.S. think tank that he believes relations between the Maldives and Washington “have never been this strong.”
He said the Maldives was looking for property to house an embassy in Washington and added: “It is our target that we will have our embassy up and running by the end of the year.”
“Hopefully by the end of this year, or early next year, we will have the United States embassy up and running in the Maldives, which is historic,” he said.