5th August 2011, Male'; The President Mohamed Nasheed has met with the President of Seychelles James A. Michel yesterday. At the meeting held at the State House, the Official Presidential Residence of Seychelles, discussions were held on the close bilateral relations between the two countries, and ways to further strengthen these ties.

04th August 2011, Male'; The Government of UK has agreed to facilitate the student visa for the Maldivian students travelling to UK for higher studies. During the period of 5th to 15th September, the High Commission will be directly accepting the student visa applications, instead of getting it approved from Chennai. The applicants are advised to provide all the materials mentioned in the visa application form to issue the necessary student visa without any delay.

29th July 2011, Male';The official talks between the visiting Indian External Affairs Minister and the Maldivian Government was held today in Kurumba Maldives Resort.

28th July 2011, Male'; The Minister of Foreign Affairs, H. E. Mr. Ahmed Naseem today received the Minister of External Affairs of India H.E.Mr. S.M. Krishna at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport. The Minister of External Affairs is visiting the Maldives on a two-day official visit.

25 July 2011, Male'; The Special Envoy to the President, H. E. Mr. Ibrahim Hussain Zaki launched the official website of the 17th SAARC Summit during a ceremony held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today.

24th July 2011, Male'; His Excellency Mr. Pedro Henrique Lopes Borio, Ambassador-Designate of Brazil met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs His Excellency Mr. Ahmed Naseem prior to presenting his credentials today to President Nasheed.

24th July 2011, Male'; His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Fakih, Honorary Consul of Maldives in Lebanon paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs His Excellency Mr. Ahmed Naseem, at the Ministry.

18 July 2011, Male';A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Government of Maldives and Cambridge Commonwealth Trust (CCT) establishing a scholarship programme at the University of Cambridge to support undergraduate students from the Maldives. Maldives High Commissioner to United Kingdom, Dr. Farah Faizal signed on behalf of the Government and Director Mr. Michael O'Sullivansigned the MoU on behalf of CCT.

15th July 2011, Male: The Foreign Minister of the Maldives, Honourable Ahmed Naseem met with US Senator John MacCain, the former US Presidential candidate of the Republican Party.

15th July 2011,Male'; The Maldivian democracy is in no means secure and is a work of progress said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ahmed Naseem. Speaking at the John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies held in collaboration with the US State Department and the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, Minister Naseem noted the importance of consolidating democracy in the Maldives and building institutional capacity and discussed the road to democratic reform in the Maldives.

14th July 2011, Male'; The National Dialogue on the implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) was held at Bandos Island Resort. This dialogue was organised and facilitated by the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) and the Sub-committee on the Prevention of torture (SPT), with the assistance of key Government Partners, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, and the designated National Preventive Mechanism, Human Rights Commission of the Maldives.

14th July 2011, Male'; Speaking at the closing ceremony of the National Dialogue on the implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, H.E Mr. Aslam Shakir called on all participants of the dialogue to work towards establishing a torture free Maldives and a torture free world. In this regard, he stressed the strong commitment of His Excellency President Nasheed to eliminate all forms of torture and uphold the norms of human rights in the Maldives. He further stated the need to find ways to prevent and eliminate torture, by strengthening the existing mechanisms and also by introducing innovative ways to address the issue. He also called for the international community's assistance and cooperation in dealing with the issue.

14th July 2011, Washington, D.C., His Excellency Ahmed Naseem, Minister of Foreign Affairs, met with Secretary of State Her Excellency Ms. Hillary Clinton. Minister Naseem thanked the United States for the assistance they provided in strengthening democracy in the Maldives and in her remarks, Ms. Clinton praised the government and people of Maldives for their efforts in bringing democracy to the country. This is the first time a foreign minister of the Maldives is meeting with his counterpart of the United States on an official trip.

09th July 2011, Male'; The Republic of Maldives has today recognized the Republic of South Sudan as an independent and sovereign state.

In a letter addressed to H. E. Mr. Deng Alor Kuol, Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Sudan, Foreign Minister Naseem expressed congratulations on the independence of the world's newest state, and stated that "the Republic of Maldives, with immediate effect, recognizes the Republic of South Sudan as an independent and sovereign state."

07th July 2011, Male'; The Government of Maldives received 50 tons of date palm fruits donated by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ahead of the upcoming fasting month of Ramadan.

29th June 2011, New York, United Nations - The General Assembly unanimously adopted a Maldives-led resolution this morning to extend travel-related benefits to the Least Developed Countries (LDC) that graduate to non-LDC status. Previously, countries that graduated from the LDC list were granted certain benefits for a three-year period after graduation. However, travel benefits, which are granted by the United Nations, were automatically discontinued upon graduation. The Maldives estimates that its travel to international conferences total approximately $70,000 annually. The resolution also calls for continued monitoring and reporting of progress made by LDC graduates in order to improve the system.

28th June 2011, Male'; The Maldives has called on the Organization for the Islamic Conference (OIC) to reform in order to reflect the fundamental changes taking place at street level throughout the Muslim world.

22nd June 2011, Male';The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H. E. Mr. Aslam Shakir met with the visiting delegation of members of the German Parliament today. The delegation was represented by the Member of Parliament and Honorary Consul of Maldives to Germany, Mr. Christian von Stetten and accompanied by Dr. Christian Ruck and Mr. Oliver Luksic.

21st June 2011, Male';Her Excellency Dr. Farah Faizal, Ambassador of Maldives to Kingdom of Denmark has presented her Letter of Credence to Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II. The ceremony was held at Fredensborg Palace on 21 June 2011. After the official ceremony, Queen Margrethe II gave an audience to Ambassador Dr. Faizal and discussed on ways to strengthen the relations between the two countries. Queen Margrethe II also congratulated Ambassador Dr. Faizal for being the first-ever Maldivian Ambassador (non-resident) to be accredited to Kingdom of Denmark and expressed that this marks a new beginning between the two countries and a relationship that would only strengthen in the years to come.

17th June 2011, Geneva;The United Nations Human Rights Council, the world's preeminent institution mandated to promote and protect human rights around the world, today appointed Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, as the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran. The position is one of the most important and high-profile human rights posts in the UN system. The 47 Member States of the Council unanimously endorsed the appointment of Dr. Shaheed after he was selected from a list of candidates by the President of the Council. Speaking after the appointment, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Ahmed Naseem said: "Only five years ago, it would not have been inconceivable for the United Nations to establish a Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Maldives, such was the former government's poor human rights record. Today, a Maldivian has been elected Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, one of the most important human rights posts in the international system. This is, I think, indicative of the enormous strides we have taken over recent years and the high regard in which we are now held by the international community".