• Source:JND
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 The Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) on Monday condemned the derogatory and racist comments made by Maldives prominent political figures against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the latter’s visit to Lakshadweep island. In a press release, the MATI hailed India as a significant contributor to the Maldives’ tourist industry, besides recognising its assistance during Covid and other crises.

“The Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) strongly condemns the derogatory comments made by some Deputy Ministers on social media platforms, directed towards the Prime Minister of India, His Excellency Narendra Modi as well as the people of India.

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India is one of our closest neighbours and allies. India has always been a first responder to various crises throughout our history and we are immensely grateful to the close relationship that the Government as well as the people of India have maintained with us,” the statement read.

“India has also been a consistent and significant contributor to the Tourism Industry of the Maldives. A contributor that has greatly assisted our recovery efforts during COVID-19, right after we re-opened our borders. Since then, India has continued to remain one of the top markets for the Maldives,” it added. 

Amid the pandemonium, the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) urged all tourist and trade associations of the country not to promote tourism in Maldives and think of developing a tourism infra in Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The trade body chairman, Subhash Goyal, issued a statement in this regard for all tourist and trade operators. “This is in spite of the fact that Indians are one of the biggest sources of foreign exchange and creation of jobs in the Maldives. Please divert all such enquiries to Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands which are even better than Maldives in many ways, and other destinations which can be promoted in the Indian Ocean area are Srilanka, Mauritius, Bali, and Phuket,” the ICC chairman wrote in a statement.

A massive row erupted after several politicians in the Maldives mocked PM Modi’s Lakshadweep visit as netizens saw the Indian island as a potential tourist destination which could be developed as a substitute for Maldives.  

Maldivian politician Zahid Rameez, a council member of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) said the idea of such competition was delusional. "How can they provide the service we offer? How can they be so clean? The permanent smell in the rooms will be the biggest downfall," Rameez said on Besides, Mariyam Shiuna, Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts, also sparked a row after she made insulting remarks against PM Modi over his Lakshadweep visit. Shiuna called PM Modi a "clown" and "puppet" in now-deleted posts on X.

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The contentious remarks hurled at PM Modi and India attracted massive ire on social media platforms. Netizens fervidly promoted trends including #exploreindianislands, #BoycottMaldives.

However, the government in Maldives distanced itself from the comments and issued a statement in this regard.