The discussions of establishing the first-ever resident U.S embassy in the Maldives was done during a brief meeting between the Maldives Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Khaleel and Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs of the United States Department of State Donald Lu as part of the State Minister’s ongoing visit to Washington D.C.

State Minister Khaleel and Assistant Secretary Lu talked about solidifying the traditionally close bilateral partnership and global matters of mutual importance as well as plans of expansion of cooperation in education, economy, climate change and multilateral issues of mutual importance.

During a brief visit to the Maldives by the U.S Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, the decision to open an embassy in the Maldives with the resident U.S. ambassador was announced, in October 2020. The decision taken mirrors the fact of the importance of United States bond with the Maldives, and the important opportunities between both the countries to work together to make the bond strong.