Blake visits Maldives

United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Mr. Robert O. Blake, Jr., has visited Maldives on yesterday. This is the second such official visit in four months.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lankan and Maldives, Blake landed in Maldives during his visit to Sri Lanka to meet local leaders in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.

Earlier, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, who is on a whirl-wind visit of the major capitals of Asia and Africa, held discussions with officials and civil society leaders in Maldives on January 28 and 29.

Specific areas raised with the Maldivian government by Mr. Steinberg — who is the acting Secretary of State in Hillary Clinton's absence — included the challenges of economic development, the need to strengthen education and build educational opportunities, as well as the challenge of confronting growing extremism.

Indian Newspaper ‘The Hindu’ reported that Blake Jr. said, In a December 15 telephonic press conference with south Asian journalists: “It's going to be very important now for I think all of the parties to work together to find common ground and to work to help the interests of the Maldivian people… So it's important, again, I think for all the parties to work together… It's important to set aside a lot of the rancour and again, focus on what is going to benefit the Maldivian people.”