This article provides an in-depth look at the Maldives vs Lakshadweep scandal, exploring the causes, effects, and implications of the incident. It offers a comprehensive guide to understanding and navigating the complexities of this sensitive issue.
During his recent visit to Lakshadweep, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared pictures from the trip on social media. Several users compared the islands to the Maldives further south in the Indian Ocean. This turned into a diplomatic spat as three deputy ministers of the Maldives Ministry of Youth Affairs, Marsha Sharif, Mariam Siuna, and Masoom Majid, also commented on X’s post and made disparaging remarks about India and Modi. . The Maldives Ministry of Foreign Affairs distanced itself from her comments, saying her personal views do not reflect the country’s position. The Maldivian government suspended her.
The Maldives government’s strong reaction to the minister’s comments is not irrational, as tourism is an important source of income for the archipelago. The number of hotels tourists in the Maldives has increased significantly in recent years. During the 2006–2022 period, the number of resorts increased from 88 to 172, the number of tourist beds increased from more than 16,000 to approximately 60,000, and the number of tourist arrivals increased from 600,000 to more than 16 million.
India has been the biggest contributor to the tourism of the Maldives for three years, i.e., 2021, 2022, and 2023, but the tourism revenue of the Maldives peaked during 2022, and if in 2024 the boycott continued during holiday seasons, then Maldives revenue has to go through a major loss.
According to the Maldives Ministry of Tourism, India will continue to be the country’s largest tourism market in 2023. Most of the visitors to the Maldives came from India, with 209,198 arrivals, followed by Russia in second place with 209,146, and China in third place with 187,118.
In 2022, India remained the top tourist market for the Maldives with 240,000 arrivals. Russia was a close second with 198,000 tourists, and the UK came in third with over 177,000 tourists.
What’s the role of Bollywood celebrities in this controversy?
Since many years, Bollywood celebrities have been promoting Maldives tourism and putting ads for it on their social media handles. But after this controversy, a wave came on social media, and many Bollywood celebrities came in support of PM Modi and promoted Lakshadweep on their social media. Celebrities like Kangana Ranaut, Salman Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Shradha Kapoor, John Abhrahim, and Akshay Kumar posted on their social media handles regarding the same.
