The United States is opening an embassy in the Maldives for economic and security cooperation five decades after the two countries established diplomatic relations.
The resolution reflects “the continued expansion of U. S. -Maldives relations and underscores America’s unequivocal commitment to the Maldives and the Indo-Pacific region,” U. S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday after his meetings in the Maldives with the president. Mohamed Solih and Chancellor Abdulla Shahid.
The most recent initiative is warned as Washington’s crusade for a flexible and open Indo-Pacific to curb Beijing’s influence in the region.
Lately, the United States does not have a consulate or embassy in the Maldives, but operates an American center in Male. The U. S. ambassador and embassy staff in Sri Lanka are accredited in the Maldives and make a stopover in the island’s archipelago.
Pompeo’s south Asian country comes after the United States and Maldives signed a defense agreement on September 10 to “deepen commitment and cooperation” in the peace and security of the Indian Ocean, according to the State Department. India, traditionally skeptical of the foreign army’s presence near its borders, has blessed the agreement, U. S. officials said.
In years, U. S. Navy ships have been in the middle of the U. S. Navy. But it’s not the first time They have made normal scales in the Maldives. Island Nation has supported US counterterrorism and terrorist financing efforts. But it’s not the first time
The United States delivered $2 million in assistance to the Maldives for the recovery of the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington has also committed millions of dollars in financial aid to strengthen fiscal transparency, maritime security, and the fight against terrorism in the Maldives. States established diplomatic relations with the Maldives in 1966 after their independence from Britain.
After the Maldives, Pompeo travels to Jakarta, Indonesia, where he will highlight freedom and human rights in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, according to U. S. officials.
The secretary of state told reporters that it was in the most productive interest of Southeast Asian nations to protect “their maritime rights” and their ability to do business, making sure “that their sovereignty comes from” threats from the Chinese Communist Party.
Beijing has forged strong economic and diplomatic relations with Jakarta, with China being the largest source of foreign direct investment in Indonesia in the first part of this year.
Southeast Asia is the region hardest hit by China’s territorial claims and the militarization of the characteristics of disputed lands in the South China Sea. Six Asian governments – Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam – have territorial claims or maritime borders in the South China Sea that overlaps China’s claim.
Although Indonesia is not a party to disputes in the South China Sea, it has continuously detected Chinese fishing boats or coastguards in Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone off the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea.