Australian High Commissioner to Maldives David Holly and Australian Defence Adviser Group Captain Sean Unwin Tuesday presented Australian supplied Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Maldives High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, HE Omar Abdul Razzak, and Lieutenant Colonel Ismail Naseer, Defence Advisor to the High Commission of the Republic of the Maldives in Sri Lanka.
At the handover ceremony, High Commissioner Holly said “Australia expresses solidarity with the Maldives as we both face the impacts of the global COVID-19 crisis together. As a longstanding friend, Australia is pleased to help Maldives counter COVID-19 by providing this equipment to protect those on the frontline”.
High Commissioner Omar expressed sincere appreciation for the generosity of donating PPE equipment provided by the Australian Department of Defence to the Maldives National Defence Force in its efforts to combat COVID-19, also thanked the Government of Australia for the continued cooperation and friendly relations with the Maldives at all times.
The PPE consisted of 12,000 high-quality coveralls and 200,000 gloves with a value of USD120,000, manufactured in Sri Lanka by Australian company Ansell, and will support Maldives’ efforts to minimise further transmission of COVID-19.
As Indian Ocean neighbours, Australia and Maldives share a long and warm bilateral relationship. Events to mark 45 years of relations in 2019 included the visit to Maldives of HMAS Ballarat in July and the visit to Australia by Minister for Defence Uza. Mariya Ahmed Didi in November 2019. Australia looks forward to continuing working with the Maldives as an Indo-Pacific partner, a news release from the Australian High Commission in Colombo said.
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Source URL: Google News
