Maldivian envoy summoned by MEA amid row over ministers' remarks against Modi

New Delhi: As the President of the Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu, commenced his visit to China, the envoy of the island nation to India was on Monday summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi, where senior officials conveyed to him concerns over the derogatory remarks by some politicians of his country against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The High Commissioner of the Maldives to India, Ibrahim Shaheeb, was summoned to the MEA headquarters a day after the government of the Indian Ocean nation suspended three deputy ministers for making derogatory comments against the Prime Minister of India on X. New Delhi’s envoy to Malé, Munu Mahawar, also had “a pre-arranged meeting” with Ali Naseer Mohamed, Ambassador at Large, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Maldives.

New Delhi’s diplomatic mission in Malé posted on X that Mahawar had met Mohamed to discuss “bilateral issues”. Sources in New Delhi, however, told DH that the issue of derogatory remarks by the politicians in the Maldives against the Prime Minister of India had come up for discussion during the meeting.

The officials of the Maldives told their counterparts in the Government of India both in Malé and in New Delhi that the derogatory comments made by the three deputy ministers and other politicians of the island nation about Modi had not reflected the views of the government headed by Muizzu, according to the sources.

Muizzu on Sunday suspended three deputy ministers – Malsha Shareef, Mariyam Shiuna and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid – of his government after they made derogatory comments about Modi and seaside tourist destinations of India on X. The Government of the Maldives also issued a statement distancing itself from the comments, which were made in reaction to the pictures and the videos of as well as the comments about the prime minister’s visit to Lakshadweep off the Malabar Coast of India.

The row erupted as Muizzu recently asked India to withdraw its military personnel from the Maldives. His government also moved to scrap a bilateral deal that allowed India to conduct hydrographic surveys in the territorial waters of the Maldives. The twin moves triggered speculation in New Delhi about the new regime in Malé, reversing the erstwhile government’s ‘India First’ policy and steering the Maldives back into China’s expanding orbit of geopolitical influence in the Indian Ocean region.

Muizzu won the presidential elections in Maldives a few months back after running a campaign against India. He commenced his first visit to China on Monday and would meet President Xi Jinping during his stay in the communist country. He and Xi will witness the signing of several agreements to boost cooperation between the Maldives and China.

Shiuna's post was deleted after it triggered a volley of sharp responses from the X users in India. Majid also made some comments suggesting that India could not compete with the Maldives on beach tourism. The comment was in reply to a post suggesting that Modi’s visit to Lakshadweep could promote beach tourism in India and make it compete with the Maldives. Shareef, however, had made a derogatory statement about Modi earlier.

“It (China) also respects the friendly and cooperative relationship between the Maldives and India, fully aware of the importance of maintaining good relations with New Delhi. Beijing has never asked Malé to reject New Delhi because of the conflicts between China and India, nor does it view cooperation between the Maldives and India as unfriendly or a threat,” according to a commentary in Global Times, a media outlet affiliated to the Communist Party of India.