# Independence Agreement with the United Kingdom (26 July 1965)

URL: https://allhistories.com/maldives/timeline/1965-independence-agreement-with-the-united-kingdom
Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka
Themes: main-event

On 26 July 1965 Prime Minister Ibrahim Nasir and the British ambassador-designate Michael Walker signed an agreement that made the Maldives fully independent. The ceremony took place at the British High Commissioner's residence in Colombo. Britain ended its responsibility for defence and external affairs but kept the Gan and Hithadhoo facilities in Addu Atoll. The islands had been a British protectorate since 1887, with internal affairs left to the sultan. A 1960 agreement had allowed Britain to keep using Gan and Hithadhoo for thirty years in exchange for payments of £750,000 over 1960 to 1965. Independence therefore completed a gradual transfer of control rather than ending a colonial administration abruptly. The monarch stayed in office for three more years and took the title King, until the republic of 1968. Britannica's history article gives 1965 for independence without a day, while the Library of Congress country study and Wikipedia give 26 July. Britannica separately states that the last British troops left on 29 March 1976, a date it says is celebrated as Independence Day, so sources differ on which anniversary is marked. At this point in the timeline (1965), Muhammad Fareed Didi (1954 – 1968) was Sultan of the Maldives, a British protectorate with internal self-government until independence on 26 July 1965, and King of the independent Maldives until the sultanate was abolished in 1968; Prime Minister Ibrahim Nasir (12 December 1957 – 11 November 1968) led the government.

## Why it matters
It ended nearly eighty years of British protection and let the Maldives act as a sovereign state, join the United Nations and set its own course.

Ruler at the Time: [Muhammad Fareed Didi](https://allhistories.com/maldives/rulers/muhammad-fareed-didi-1954)

Prime Minister: Ibrahim Nasir (Independent)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — History of Maldives](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Maldives)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — History](https://www.britannica.com/place/Maldives/History)
- [Library of Congress Country Studies — 1](https://countrystudies.us/maldives/1.htm)