On 14 January 2020, in New Delhi, the capital of India, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives, Abdulla Shahid, to discuss the bilateral relations and cooperation in international organisations.
The Latvian Foreign Minister drew attention to the untapped potential for cooperation and development of relations. Latvia’s business and trade relations with the Maldives have not been explored so far, and we hope to see positive developments in the future in the form of practical cooperation projects, the Minister said. He noted that Latvia was interested in cooperation in traditional areas such as transport and logistics, and education, as well as in the rapidly growing information and communication technology sector. The Foreign Ministers agreed on the need to intensify tourism between the countries, taking into account that the citizens of the European Union do not need a visa to travel to the Maldives.
Edgars Rinkēvičs pointed out that no agreements have been concluded between Latvia and the Maldives and therefore work should begin on the development of the bilateral legal framework. Aviation is currently the area of highest importance for Latvia and one in which an intergovernmental agreement could be signed; Latvia is interested in launching negotiations on an air traffic agreement. Bilateral air traffic agreements are important for airlines also in cases where they do not operate on a specific route, as a bilateral agreement entitles them to enter into codesharing arrangements on flights to certain destinations.
Edgars Rinkēvičs invited the Foreign Minister of the Maldives to visit Latvia.
Latvia and the Republic of Maldives established diplomatic relations on 20 June 1994.