Maldives changes mind, to rejoin Commonwealth

Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has told his new cabinet that the Maldives will be a part of the Commonwealth of Nations again after it pulled out in 2016, the President's Office said on Wednesday.

The Ministers were told about the advantages of being a Commonwealth member and that it would open up several opportunities to the Maldivian people, especially for the youth, Xinhua news agency quoted the President's Office as saying.

Following the President's decision, the respective authorities were in the process of setting things in motion for the Maldives to rejoin the Commonwealth, a statement from the President's Office said.

The Maldives first became a member of the Commonwealth in 1982 and left it in 2016.