First Light

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on 27 September that Foreign Minister Iruthisham Adam has concluded her official visit to New York (opens in a new tab) for the High-level Week of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, held from 22 to 28 September. On 26 September she and Angola's Minister of External Relations Téte António signed two memoranda of understanding (opens in a new tab). One sets up regular political consultations between the two foreign ministries. The other links the Foreign Service Institute of Maldives (FOSIM) with Angola's Venâncio de Moura Diplomatic Academy for training and skills development.

At the high-level meetings on the Right to Development and on Pandemic Prevention and Preparedness, she called for technology transfer, resilient supply chains, accessible financing and fairer global financial systems. Partner governments' records add the bilateral track: trade, connectivity, academia and defence (opens in a new tab) with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on 24 September, and economic, trade and investment cooperation (opens in a new tab) with the UAE's Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed.

Beneath the formal calendar sits the work that counts most for a small state: standing channels, trained diplomats and votes. The Angola agreements convert the ministers' June meeting in Malé (opens in a new tab) into permanent mechanisms, and both sides pledged then to support each other's UN candidacies.

The President's Office announced on 27 September (opens in a new tab) that the government held a ministerial session of the 'Ahaa' (Ask) Forum. Minister of Sports, Fitness and Recreation Abdulla Rafiu, Minister of Fisheries, Agriculture and Marine Resources Ahmed Shiyam and Minister of Homeland Security, Labour and Technology Ali Ihusaan took part in the two-hour programme.

The session was broadcast live on Public Service Media (PSM). Members of the public put questions in person or through the PSM Air application, and the ministers answered on a range of subjects of public interest. His Excellency Dr Mohamed Muizzu, President of the Republic of Maldives, introduced the forum in 2024 as part of the administration's transparency programme, alongside the 'Rayyithunge Adu' sessions, where citizens meet the President directly.

Local media reported on the same day Minister Shiyam's view that allocating too many islands for agriculture would make it harder to attract foreign investment into the sector. He said that if the islands already allocated follow the work plans their lessees submitted, the Maldives could replace at least some imported produce.

The President's Office reported on 27 September that Vice President Uz Hussain Mohamed Latheef concluded his visit to New York (opens in a new tab) for the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. He delivered the Maldives' general debate statement (opens in a new tab) on 25 September, linking the country's UN priorities to the goal set by His Excellency Dr Mohamed Muizzu, President of the Republic of Maldives, of developed-nation status by 2040. At the High-Level Plenary Meeting on sea-level rise he said the Maldives' response is "resilience, not retreat".

The substance was continuity. He called for scalable, grant-based adaptation finance; for a rotating Security Council seat for small island developing states; and for a Palestinian state on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. On financing, the language stayed with reform of the international financial architecture and the Borrowers' Platform rather than any single creditor. No new position on Indian Ocean security was announced.

The Vice President addressed the China-hosted meeting on the Global Development Initiative (opens in a new tab), Beijing's development framework, while the general debate statement, as reported, named neither China nor India. Debt, raised with the Secretary-General, was framed as a question for the system, not for any one lender.

Criticism of the 21 September agreement with Abu Dhabi-based Eagle Hills has widened. It allocates about 500 of the 1,100 hectares (opens in a new tab) being reclaimed in the Fushi Diggaru lagoon to the developer. Eagle Hills' first statement said buyers would hold 99-year leases, with a fresh 99-year term starting at every sale or inheritance; local media report the company later revised that passage. Former President Abdulla Yameen calls it a danger to the nation, and Sheikh Fazloon Mohamed and Malé City Mayor Adam Azim say it could put national independence at risk.

The government's answer is that the land remains state-owned. Minister Abdulla Muththalib said a buyer owns the property, not the land beneath it, and that any sale or inheritance needs government approval. Finance Minister Hassan Zareer said no land is sold and no tax concessions will be granted (opens in a new tab). His Excellency Dr Mohamed Muizzu, President of the Republic of Maldives, said the project will not affect the government's housing plans (opens in a new tab).

Local media also report that police are examining how a locker at the Ministry of Housing holding a hard copy of the agreement came to be found open, and critics question whether Rasmalé can deliver housing beyond the 15,000 announced plots.

Former Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail, of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), said on 27 September that large capital projects must be approved (opens in a new tab) before they proceed, Mihaaru reported. He referred to the Eagle Hills Rasmalé project, marketed as the Maldives Waterfront and Marina.

He asked that the commercial terms be disclosed to the People's Majlis, the media and the public (opens in a new tab); that the government explain how the roughly 500 hectares allocated to the developer were valued, and whether an independent valuation was done (opens in a new tab); and that long-term impacts be assessed before approval. "Such investments must be brought with transparency and through procedures that protect the rights of both parties," he said, as reported by Edition.

His demands concern process — disclosure, valuation and review — rather than the ownership question on which the government has so far answered. That places the next test with the People's Majlis, and whether the agreement or its terms come before it when it returns from recess.