The Maldives has established formal diplomatic relations with the State of Eritrea, a multi-ethnic country with a population of approximately 3.2 million people.

The Joint Communiqué formalizing diplomatic relations with the two countries was signed on Wednesday, at a ceremony held at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations in New York.

Thilmeeza Hussain, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Maldives to the UN, signed the Joint Communiqué on behalf of Maldives, with Sophia Tesfamariam Yohannes, Permanent Representative of the State of Eritrea to the UN, signing on behalf of Eritrea.

With this, the Maldives has established and continues to maintain diplomatic relations with 176 world countries.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solh's administration places special emphasis on developing and maintaining diplomatic relations with countries that may value the Maldives' values and foreign policy stances.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid extended warm congratulations to his Eritrean counterpart Foreign Minister Osman Saleh on the occasion in a tweet on Thursday. Minister Shahid expressed enthusiasm in working with the Eritrean delegation to further revitalize bilateral and multilateral relations between the Maldives and Eritrea following the establishment of formal diplomatic ties between the two nations.

Eritrea is an East African state along the Red Sea, bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan and Djibouti. It is a multi-ethnic country with a population of approximately 3.2 million people.