After the first ever Arab-Islamic-American Summit, President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has returned to Male on Tuesday morning.
President Yameen was invited to the summit by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz.
Fifty-four world leaders joined US President Donald Trump and the Saudi King in the summit that was held on May 21.
The objective cited on the website that was set up by the Saudi government in connection with the US president’s trip states that the president Trump and the leaders of the world’s Islamic nations will meet to address ways to “build more robust and effective security partnerships to counter and prevent the growing threat of terrorism and violent extremism around the globe through promoting moderation.”
In Trump’s speech, he had urged the leaders of the Muslim nations to be united in the effort to eliminate the “wave of fanatical violence” committed in the name of religion.
“We are adopting a principled realism. We are not here to lecture, we are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be or how to worship. Instead, we are here to offer partnership, based on shared interests and values,” Trump had said in his address to the Muslim leaders.
President Yameen also made a speech during the summit.
He also took part at the ceremony held to inaugurate the Global Centre for Combatting Extremism headquartered in Riyadh, as the summit came to a close on Sunday.
The new establishment was founded with the aim of confronting extreme ideologies by monitoring and analysing it, and also to confront and prevent extremism by cooperating with governments and relevant organisations to prevail and promote a culture of moderation.
Maldives maintains a good relationship with Saudi Arabia, and the relation has grown stronger during president Yameen’s presidency.
The president has already made several trips to the Muslim holy land – his last trip to the country was in October. In this trip, potential investment plans in the Maldives were discussed, and ways to improve the bi-lateral relations between the two states were also discussed.
King Salman bin Abdulaziz was due for a visit to the Maldives last March; however his trip had to be abruptly cancelled due to the H1N1 outbreak in Maldives.
