Maldives govt seeks presidential visit to India amid diplomatic row

Muizzu’s office in Malé has quietly and informally sent a proposal to New Delhi, suggesting a visit by the president of the Maldives to India soon. New Delhi has not yet responded to the proposal from Malé.

New Delhi: Even as Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu on Tuesday sought China’s help to blunt the impact of the calls by several social media users in India for boycotting the holiday destinations in the neighbouring archipelago, his government in Malé proposed a visit by him to New Delhi a few weeks after his return from Beijing.

As Muizzu is currently on a state visit to China, his government signed an agreement with the Hunan Construction Investment Group of the communist country for a $50 million project to boost the tourism industry and create new jobs in the Greater Malé area. Muizzu also sought China’s help to give a boost to the inflow of tourists to the Maldives.

“We will continue to strengthen and drive the economic industry and boost visitor numbers. The Government has plans to diversify the tourism product and offer new experiences. Initiatives include a top-tier school of hospitality and exploring sports, medical and cultural tourism,” he said at an event held in Fujian in China to seek investment in the Maldives.

“China was our number one market (for tourists) pre-COVID, and it is my request that we intensify efforts for China to regain this position.”

He also stressed on early implementation of the Free Trade Agreement inked by China and the Maldives.

Muizzu is on his maiden visit to China since winning the presidential elections in the Maldives a few months back riding on a campaign against India.

Though most of his predecessors started bilateral foreign visits with one to New Delhi, Muizzu chose Beijing, fuelling speculation about the Maldives’ drift towards China.

Muizzu’s office in Malé however quietly and informally sent a proposal to New Delhi, suggesting a visit by the president of the Maldives to India soon.

New Delhi has not yet responded to the proposal from Malé.

Muizzu called for enhancing tourist arrival from China to the Maldives amid a campaign by social media users and others to boycott his country as a holiday destination. The campaign already resulted in the cancellation of air tickets and reservations of hotels in the Maldives by a large number of prospective tourists from India.

The campaign started after some ministers, politicians and other social media users made some derogatory remarks about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the tourist destinations in India on X in reaction to photos and videos of his recent visit to Lakshadweep off the Malabar Coast.

Muizzu already suspended three of his deputy ministers for making derogatory comments about Modi on X. His government also distanced itself from the comments.

With 209,198 arrivals, India remained the source with the highest number of tourists to the Maldives, followed by 209,146 from Russia and 187,118 arrivals from China, according to the data released in Malé. With over 2.80 lakh arrivals, China had been the top source of tourists to the Maldives before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) meanwhile stated that efforts to develop and promote Lakshadweep in India as a tourist destination would have no adverse effect on the tourism industry of the archipelago.