&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Amid West Asia War, Maldives cancelled meeting with US envoy Gor last month")
New Delhi: In what is seen as a diplomatic snub, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu cancelled a meeting with the US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia, Sergio Gor, during the American diplomat’s visit to the Indian Ocean nation in March 2026.
Mr Gor, who also serves as US ambassador to India, arrived in the capital Malé (23rd March) as part of a regional tour that included Sri Lanka. The trip was intended to mark 60 years of diplomatic relations between Washington and the Maldives, while exploring cooperation on security, infrastructure and economic development in the strategically important Indian Ocean region.
The special envoy Gor held talks with the then Foreign Minister Abdulla Khaleel and Defence Minister Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon, describing the discussions on X as productive and focused on bilateral ties and regional issues. Yet the centrepiece of the visit, a face-to-face encounter with President Muizzu, did not materialise. Mr Gor departed without meeting the president, an absence that drew immediate attention in diplomatic circles.
Speaking at a press conference on the same day, President Muizzu made his government’s position unequivocal. “There is nothing I want to discuss regarding the ongoing war,” he said, according to local media outlet Adhadhu.
“Access will not be granted to use any area of Maldives for purposes of this war or any war. That will not happen.”
The cancellation came against the backdrop of the wider conflict in West Asia, including US and Israeli military actions on Iran, and Iranian strikes on US assets in Gulf countries, impacting many of the Arab neighbours. President Muizzu has repeatedly stressed that the Maldives, a small Muslim-majority archipelago, will not allow its territory to be used in any capacity related to these hostilities.
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He has called for an immediate cessation of violence and condemned actions that violate national sovereignty.
Responding to questions about the US envoy’s visit, Mr Muizzu said the Maldives remained open to dialogue with representatives of other countries, but explicitly excluded Israel. He also confirmed that a request has been received by Gor’s team for a meeting, adding that, even if such a meeting takes place, the Maldives would maintain a clear and consistent position of non-involvement in the ongoing conflict.
Important to note, Gor got a meeting with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake during that two country visit. Sri Lanka had also refused access to land US warplanes in the country amid the war. The country had hosted a number of surviving sailors from the Iranian warship Dena that was torpedoed by Americans in the Indian Ocean.
