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Maldivian Meltdown: How One Visit Of PM Modi To Lakshadweep And The Loose Fingers Of Maldivian Ministers Has Plunged The Island Nation In Trouble

January 7, 2024
The Commune

PM Modi made a visit to Lakshadweep on 04 January 2024 and social media has gone berserk with various theories and conspiracies. Although, PM Modi does not say anything explicitly, his actions speak more than his words and for this reason, his visit to the Lakshadweep islands has become a subject of intense debates and discussions.

Unlike the previous PM Rajiv Gandhi who utilised the islands as his own party grounds, PM Modi used this trip to showcase the surreal beauty of Lakshadweep as well as to reach out to the majority Muslim population in the islands.

Focusing On Lakshadweep

Historically, Maldives has been a friendly nation to India. In fact, India was one of the first few nations to recognise Maldives’ independence from the British. Both nations have intrinsically developed close strategic, military, economic and cultural relations. There have been good bilateral trade agreements between the countries as well. India brought Maldives into its security net in 2009, when there was a tip that one of the island resorts could be taken over by terrorists. When there was regime change in the Maldives in 2022, the new president Mohamed Muizzu requested India to withdraw its military presence. Finally, in December 2023, India agreed to withdraw its military forces. It has been alleged that China and Muizzu’s party enjoy good relationship and the new antagonistic measures of the Muizzu’s party might be influenced by the Eastern nation. Also, it is reported that 10 islands in the Maldives have been leased to China, and they are stationing ships there to conduct large scale military operations. More measures like free trade agreement between the two nations show how close they are getting together. China’s presence in the Maldives will be a definite threat to India, so naturally, as a countermeasure India will like to strengthen their military presence in Lakshadweep.

Reactions To The Visit

Ever since PM Modi’s visit, social media has been abuzz about Lakshadweep and Maldives. PM Modi did not utter a word about the Maldives during his visit, but the message was picked up by prominent political analysts and media houses. #BoycottMaldives #Maldives, #Maldivian, #Lakshadweep have been trending on X for two consecutive days. Google Trends showed ‘Lakshadweep tour’ and Lakshadweep packages’ were top trending keywords even on 06 January 2024. Retorting to these trends, prominent handles from the Maldives government have been posting on X about Maldives tourism, which were, at best, borderline abusive.

Mariyam Shiuna, Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts, posted on X calling PM Modi as a ‘clown’ and ‘puppet of Israel’ which enraged Indian netizens and eventually, she had to delete the post after massive backlash. This happened the day after Zahid Rameez, a council member of the ruling party of the Maldives, mocked Indians tend to leave behind ‘a permanent smell’ in the rooms. Interestingly, in June 2023 the same person was requesting for Indian citizenship since he was born in Madras (sic).

Maldivian Govt Faces The Heat

India has formally communicated its objections to the Maldivian government regarding offensive statements attributed to Mariyam Shiuna, a current minister in the Maldives. These comments were directed at India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  While Shiuna has removed her tweets, this situation has ignited a diplomatic dispute between the neighboring nations.

Following the escalating tensions on social media, the Maldives Government suspended Minister Mariyam Shiuna, Malsha and Hassan Zihan for their derogatory remarks made on PM Modi and India.

Not just that. The Maldivian government spokesperson confirmed that “All government officials responsible for the comments have been suspended from their post effective immediately“.

Earlier, the Government of Maldives released a statement distancing itself from the comments made by its Ministers.

“Government of Maldives is aware of derogatory remarks on social media platforms against foreign leaders and high-ranking individuals. These opinions are personal and do not represent the views of the Government of Maldives says Maldives Foreign Ministry.“, it said.

Meanwhile the Opposition in the island nation has caught the incumbent in a fix lashing out at the irresponsible comments made by the Ministers.

Abdulla Shahid, the former Foreign Minister of Maldives wrote “Derogatory remarks made by 2 Deputy Ministers of the current Maldives Government, and a member of a political party in the ruling coalition, towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India on social media is reprehensible and odious.”

Other members of the Maldivian Opposition to slammed the Government.

Earlier in the day, the Maldives government websites were inaccessible. It seems that the Maldivian government either implemented a firewall or temporarily restricted access to their website specifically for users accessing it from Indian IP addresses.

Chinese-Friendly Government Shoots Itself In The Foot

The incumbent government in Maldives is considered pro-China and its Prime Minister Mohamed Muizzu was instrumental in the Get Out India campaign. He had wanted all Indian troops stationed in Maldives to be removed.

Travel and tourism plays a huge part in the Maldives’ economy. Data shows that in the year 2019 the contribution of travel and tourism to GDP (% of GDP) was 66.1%. The tourism industry took a massive hit during COVID in 2020, and when the restrictions were lifted off, Indians emerged as the biggest international tourists in the island country, accounting for 11.3% of the total market share. As the new President Mohamed Muizzu is travelling to Beijing to meet the Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, Modi has strategically placed his ‘tourism’ visit to deliver his subtle message to the new President of the Maldives. The future holds the key in seeing how the relationship between the Maldives, India and China develop and transform.

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