Fiji, Saudi Arabia establish diplomatic ties

Fiji and Saudi Arabia have established diplomatic relations, the Fijian government announced Wednesday.

At a ceremony at the permanent mission of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations in New York, the United States earlier this week, Peter Thomson, Fiji's permanent representative to the UN and his Saudi Arabian counterpart Abdallah Yahya Al-Mouallimi signed a protocol and joint communique establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries, according to Fiji's Department of Information.

"The communique conveys the agreement of both States for their diplomatic relations to be guided by mutual willingness to develop and strengthen friendship and cooperation in accordance with the principles and norms enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, international law, and the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations," the department said in a statement.

Following the formalization ceremony, the two ambassadors held talks on areas of common interest between their two countries and areas of cooperation at the UN, said the statement, adding that " Fiji's long service in the cause of UN peacekeeping in the Middle East was acknowledged with great respect."

In line with the Look North policy, Fiji has been expanding its diplomatic ties across the globe. To date, the Pacific island country has established diplomatic relations with over 170 countries in the world, statistics show. Endi