Hyper-Tensed Maldives Relations With India
In Maldives, 40% of their GDP is dependent on tourism-related activities, and nearly 11% of it is contributed by Indian tourists every year. Maldives relations with India have changed because when we look at 2018 stats, there was only 6.1% of Indian tourists contributing to Maldives’ economy, but looking at the stats of 2020, 2021, and 2022, India contributed 11.3%, 22.1%, and 14.3%.
But the scenario drastically changed when PM Narendra Modi posted pictures of Lakshadweep on his Twitter handle to boost tourism, resulting in thousands of tourists dropping their plans and shifting it from Maldives to Lakshadweep, which somewhere increased the tension between Maldives relations with India.
The report says that the number of tourists visiting Maldives reduced by 42%. Last year, the number for January to May was around 73,700 as compared to now which is just 42,600 approximately.
India has been continuously slipping the rank in the Maldives Tourism share says the nation’s Ministry of Tourism on March 4. This has been happening since Mohamed Muizzu became Maldives’ President and imposed the “India Out” campaign to increase the ties with China.
The scenes got even worse when three Maldivian officials made critical comments about India and PM Modi posting pictures. But, looking at these huge contrasts and to cover up the negative aspect, the Maldives minister stated that Maldives relations with India and Indian tourists have a long positive history.
They also highlighted that the newly formed government also wants to work together. As a Tourism Minister, I would like to encourage more Indians to be a part of Maldives tourism as the majority of our economy depends on tourism.
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