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Press Statement by H.E Abdulla Shahid, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives Following the Receipt of Food Aid, Medicines and Medical Equipment from the Government of Bangladesh

16 May 2020

It is with much appreciation that I welcome today the arrival of the second Bangladesh Air Force flight to the Maldives, carrying 7000 kg of food and medical equipment and medicine for the people of Maldives to assist our efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

On behalf of the President of Maldives HE Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, and the people of the Maldives, I would like to thank the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister Dr. A K Abdul Momen, the Government and the people of Bangladesh for this gesture of goodwill and generosity. It is a manifest reflection of the close friendship and the significant historic bonds that exist between our two brotherly nations.

Earlier, in April 2020, the Bangladesh Armed Forces also provided assistance in repatriating Maldivians in Bangladesh and Nepal through a special military aircraft. Bangladesh has also sent us a medical team and 100 tons of food, medicine, and medical equipment, brought by the Bangladesh Navy just a few weeks ago. Recent weeks have seen a hike in the number of COVID-19 positive cases in the Maldives, of which a large number of the affected have been the expatriate population. I take this opportunity to reiterate the Government’s full commitment and support to provide maximum healthcare support to all those in need, without discrimination. The Government of Maldives has also identified migrant workers living in congested places and made arrangements to move them to safe accommodation facilities, to curb the spread of the virus among those people.

I remain confident that the close bonds between the two countries and peoples of Maldives and Bangladesh will strengthen further in the years ahead and hope to find further avenues to help each other and overcome this global pandemic soon.