President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and First Lady Fazna Ahmed on Monday morning departed for Makkah, Saudi Arabia, to perform the Hajj pilgrimage.

The President's Office revealed that the President and First Lady will be visiting Makkah on an unofficial visit for the Hajj pilgrimage and that they will return back to the Maldives on July 13th following the pilgrimage.

This year marks the first time in two years that the Maldives is sending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, which had allotted the country a total of 453 slots for the year. Only Hajj Corporation was allowed to send pilgrims to Saudi Arabia this year due to the limited number of quota received.

All hajj groups have now departed the Maldives, with the last group departing last week.