Key Points
- Three Maldivian ministers, since suspended, made derogatory remarks about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media platform X.
- Racist remarks prompted a social media storm, with Indian locals and celebrities expressing their disapproval of the "hateful language".
- The controversy has sparked a boycott of Maldives and forced one of India's largest travel platforms to suspend flights to the hotspot, which relies on tourism.
India's relations with the Maldives have taken a nosedive following social media fury over disparaging remarks made about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi online.
The social media storm was ignited when Modi posted photos of his two-day January trip to the Indian islands of Lakshadweep, including pictures on the beach and in a wetsuit, to promote local tourism.
The visit was perceived by some as trying to draw tourists away from the archipelago of sun-kissed islands in the Indian Ocean, which has an economy highly reliant on tourism.
Tourism is the largest foreign exchange earner for the Maldives, with India and Russia sending the most visitors, around 209,000 each last year.
Derogatory comments made by three Maldives ministers angered the Indian community online, and have since prompted a boycott of travelling to the islands and forced the suspension of the public officials in question.
So how did we get here?
How did the Maldives ministers insult Modi?
Malsha Shareef, Mariyam Shiuna and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid — who all worked for the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts — have now been suspended following their remarks made on social media.
The three had variously labelled Indian premier Narendra Modi a "clown", "terrorist" and "puppet of Israel" in posts on social media platform X, which have since been deleted.
Subsequent commentary, including a post by Progressive Party member Zahid Rameez, also perpetuated racist stereotypes of Indians more generally.
The Maldives Foreign Ministry condemned the remarks and said they were made in a personal capacity, not reflecting the views of the government.
"The government believes that the freedom of expression should be exercised in a democratic and responsible manner, and in ways that do not spread hatred, negativity, and hinder close relationships between the Maldives and international partners,” the Maldives government said in a statement.
"India has always been a good friend to Maldives and we must not allow such callous remarks to negatively impact the age-old friendship between our two countries," added former Maldives President Ibrahim Solih on X.
Indian stars lead boycott of Maldives travel
Indian celebrities including Bollywood actors and sports stars expressed their discontent over the remarks and encouraged domestic travel instead.
"Why should we tolerate such unprovoked hate?... Let us decide to #exploreindianislands and support our own tourism," actor Akshay Kumar said on X.
The hashtag #exploreindianislands and #boycottmaldives were both trending at the height of the fury, as users posted images of cancelled travel plans to the Maldives.
“I had planned a vacation to Maldives in February, I’m going to cancel the same and visit a place domestically. Will not let my money go to someone who hates my country," said one X user.
It also prompted EaseMyTrip, one of India's largest travel platforms to "indefinitely" suspend flight bookings to the Maldives on Monday.
EaseMyTrip co-founder and executive director Prashant Pitti said his company will promote Lakshadweep over any foreign location, even if it leads to a dip in bookings.
"We decided to take this step because any self-respecting nation should do this. The statements which we heard from the representatives of the Maldives government were extremely derogatory to the country," Pitti told Reuters.
Why are relations between India and the Maldives important?
Even though India and the Maldives have traditionally had close ties, relations have been tense since the Maldives' new president, Mohamed Muizzu, came to power in November.
He won the election on an "India Out" campaign, turning his country's foreign policy focus to a relationship with China, according to analysts and sources within the nation.
Theories on a foreign policy shift were further fuelled when Muizzu broke convention and made China instead of New Delhi his first state visit. He embarked on a four-day trip on 8 January.
Muizzu also pledged to remove a small contingent of 75 Indian military personnel, located on a military on the island of Uthuruthilafalhu near the nation's capital of Male, from the nation of just over half a million people.
Both China and India vie for influence in the Indian Ocean nation.
