Sri Lanka hails the Maldives’ potential readmission to the Commonwealth

Sri Lanka has welcomed a proposal for the Maldives to be readmitted into the Commonwealth and its participation at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2020 in Rwanda.

Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ravinatha Aryasinha reiterated that Sri Lanka supports a fast track procedure to facilitate the Maldives’ participation at the summit next year.


“As a close neighbour and fellow South Asian nation, Sri Lanka enjoys strong bilateral ties with the Maldives and it is gratifying that one of the primary initiatives embarked upon by the new Maldivian administration last year was to convey its intention to rejoin the Commonwealth,” he stated, at the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting held in New York on the sidelines of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.

Given that the Commonwealth Secretariat carried out a comprehensive assessment mission in the Maldives in early 2019 that reportedly resulted in a positive outcome, Aryasinha has urged that additional hindrances not be placed to delay the archipelago’s readmission.