Kuala lumpur: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today received courtesy calls from three senior Maldives leaders at Niva Kurumba, Maldives, here, as part of his official visit to the island republic.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the courtesy calls involved Maldives Vice-President Hussain Mohamed Latheef, People's Majlis Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla, and Foreign Minister Iruthisham Adam. Each meeting was conducted separately and lasted about 10 minutes. Anwar first met with Hussain at 11.45 am local time, followed by Abdul Raheem at 11.55 am, and concluded with Iruthisham at 12.05 pm.

These meetings followed Anwar's engagement in a series of official programmes at the President's Office in Male. This included a one-on-one meeting with Maldives President Dr Mohamed Muizzu and a Malaysia-Maldives delegation meeting. Both leaders also participated in a joint press conference and witnessed the exchange of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in the fields of defence and Islamic affairs.

Anwar's visit to the Maldives, which spans two days, is focused on strengthening bilateral ties and exploring new collaborative opportunities between the two nations. The visit is scheduled to conclude this afternoon. Accompanying the Prime Minister are Investment, Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani; Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri R. Ramanan; and Malaysian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Badli Hisham Adam. Malaysia and the Maldives have enjoyed diplomatic relations since 1968.