Nasheed’s visit cut short

21 November 2010 01:30 am Views - 5169

Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed returned to Male' cutting short his official visit to Sri Lanka, after Maldivian First Lady’s father passed away.

The father of First Lady Laila Ali, Ali Abdulla passed away early morning yesterday at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, the President’s Office said.

Nasheed arrived in Lanka to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for a second term in office on Friday.

Also a currency swap arrangement between the Maldives and Lanka too was slated for discussion during his visit. Under the arrangement, the Maldives government would seek US$ 200 million line of credit from Sri Lankan Central Bank for the Maldives.

The Maldives’ aim was to have an arrangement whereby Maldivian Rufiyaa could be directly exchanged for Sri Lankan Rupees and vice versa. Before leaving Male’ on Thursday, Nasheed expressed hope of finalizing a framework agreement of the arrangement during his visit.

However, it was not clear if the matter was finalized since he had to arrive back in Male’ unexpectedly. (Asian Tribune)