Why calls for an Indian boycott of Maldives tourism were prompted by PM Modi's beach photos ?
PM Narendra Modi in Lakshadweep: Maldives is a beautiful country made up of island groups in South Asia. Since gaining independence from the British on 26 July 1965, it is famous all over the world for the beauty of its islands. People from all over the world come here to visit. Whether you want to celebrate a birthday party or celebrate New Year or want to have a memorable honeymoon destination for couples. One of the favorite places of people is Maldives. But it seems that in recent times, due to the changing forms of political powers in the world, the politics and future of this country is also taking a different shape.
There is a reference to the displeasure with India of the new President who came after the change of power in Maldives and this is a recent incident in this. But what is the real matter and what kind of politics is the newly elected President really doing, let us understand it completely today.
It is the day of 4 January 2024, some pictures of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi come from the Arabian Sea in the western part of India. The pictures come from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s X (old name Twitter) social media account.
In the pictures, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seen on the shores of Lakshadweep, India. He writes, “Some time ago I got a chance to meet the people of Lakshadweep. I am still overwhelmed by the beauty of those islands and the warmth of their people. “Anyone who is fond of adventure, Lakshadweep should definitely be on their list.” To say the least, this should have been like the story of a normal visit of the Prime Minister but it created a storm in the neighboring Maldives.
Whereas Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not even mention the name of Maldives anywhere in his social media post. But some people there took it as a comparison with their country and its beauty.
Actually, India Out campaign is going on in Maldives since the year 2020. The leader of this campaign, Mohammed Muizzu, also became the President of Maldives by winning the elections in November 2023 and since then he is adamant on the withdrawal of Indian soldiers present in Maldives. In this connection, an old agreement related to research in the ocean has also been ended. However, nothing was said about Indian tourists because the income from Indian tourists makes a major contribution to the economy of Lakshadweep.
That is why when Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Lakshadweep, some leaders of Maldives felt that the Modi government was trying to stop Indian tourists from India from coming to Maldives. And on this useless thing, the campaign against India again gained momentum in Maldives.
Some Maldivian social media users also started writing racist posts against India. Some started calling India disrespectful. Three junior ministers of the Muizzu government also tried to wash their hands in the flowing stream made controversial comments and after this the matter got out of hand.
The Indian government officially responded to this and registered its objection, after which the Maldivian government dismissed the three ministers with immediate effect and said that these were their personal views and the Maldivian government has nothing to do with it. Despite this clarification, Maldivian opposition leaders took India’s side and asked their government to apologize to India.
Here in India, some celebrities started promoting Lakshadweep tourism and also started criticizing Maldives. The language of social media posts of all the celebrities was almost the same. What is interesting is that some of them were frequent visitors to Maldives. Apart from this, Indian travel companies are busy canceling the bookings of Maldives.
Came across comments from prominent public figures from Maldives passing hateful and racist comments on Indians. Surprised that they are doing this to a country that sends them the maximum number of tourists.
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) January 7, 2024
We are good to our neighbors but
why should we tolerate such… pic.twitter.com/DXRqkQFguN
With the amazing Indian hospitality, the idea of “Atithi Devo Bhava” and a vast marine life to explore. Lakshwadeep is the place to go.#exploreindianislands pic.twitter.com/CA1d9r0QZ5
— John Abraham (@TheJohnAbraham) January 7, 2024
Experts say that this could be a double blow for Maldives; on the one hand, they fear losing a trusted partner. Whenever Maldives was in trouble, India was the first to send help, whether it was to stop the coup by running Operation Cactus in 1988 or the tsunami of 2004 or the water crisis of 2014, India stood at the forefront. The second fear of Maldives is related to money.
According to the report published on the website of Tourism Department of Maldives Government, the maximum number of tourists came from India in 2023. Which is 209198 in number and Russian tourists were at second place. Chinese tourists were once in first place. Around 188000 tourists came from China in 2023. Tourism is the biggest source of income for Maldives. 25 percent of Maldives’ GDP comes from tourism, the largest part of which comes from India.
Lakshadweep is being raised to challenge Maldives, due to which an important question arises that are the beaches of Lakshadweep and the infrastructure there ready for this? The answer is “No”. Because right now everyone needs to pay attention to this, be it the hotel industry or the government.
However, there is a lot of scope in island tourism in India. It is necessary to promote Lakshadweep in the same manner in which we see the promotion of tourism of Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat or any other state. But till now there has been no policy from the government that any businessman or tourism industry should invest in tourism related to Lakshadweep or other Indian islands.
But now the government is probably starting to pay attention to it and when its brand ambassador is such a big leader and Prime Minister of the country Narendra Modi himself, then it is natural that India will be seen challenging Maldives in the coming days. Earlier, the government had come up with a campaign like “Vocal for Local”.
More such efforts are needed. The rest of India’s investors invest in the tourism industry and the people of India should also pay some attention to the fact that if they include such undiscovered places in their list, it will also help in their development and the country’s money. If there is expenditure in the country then tourism in the country will develop.
