President Muizzu departs on first Pakistan visit by a Maldivian leader in a decade

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu and First Lady Sajidha Mohamed have departed on a state visit to Pakistan.

The First Couple, accompanied by a delegation comprising cabinet ministers and senior government officials, left for Islamabad on Tuesday morning.

The three-day state visit comes at the invitation of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The visit marks the first high‑level engagement between Maldives and Pakistan in a decade, and coincides with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The last time a Maldivian president visited Pakistan was in May 2015, when the then-President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom travelled to Islamabad.

During the visit to Islamabad, President Muizzu is scheduled to hold separate meetings with Pakistani PM Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari, and engage in high-level discussions between the two countries.

The discussions will primarily focus on bolstering bilateral relations, trade and economic cooperation, reviewing regional developments, and reviving the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), as well as strengthening cooperation on multilateral platforms such as the United Nations (UN) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Maldives and Pakistan are also expected to sign around a dozen cooperation agreements, including one on establishing direct flights between the two countries, and expanding cooperation in healthcare, defense, education, finance, technology, tourism and climate change.