The reaction of Maldivian Ministers on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Lakshadweep is unwarranted and unacceptable. Prime Minister Modi had visited Lakshadweep and praised its natural beauty and rightly so. He had called upon the people to visit the islands and enjoy the natural beauty and the warmth of its people. In his post on the social media network X, he shared his experiences in Agatti, Bangaram and Kavaratti. There was nothing against anyone in this. In fact he was promoting the natural bounties, rich aesthetics and culture of Lakshadweep. Besides that he was speaking from the Indian Territory. Lakshadweep is an integral part of India like any other state or Union Territory. Prime Minister’s post went viral. People started sharing and liking it. There was total offensive onslaught from the Maldives. The people indulging in anti-India trends and comments started responding with racist, xenophobic and derogatory language. They did not stop at that but started abusing the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. What is shocking that in this anti Indi tirade they were led by Mariyam Shiuna, Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts. In her social media post abusing the Prime Minister Modi that was later deleted she wrote,”What a clown. The puppet of Israel Mr. Narendra diver with life jacket. #VisitMaldives #SunnySideOfLife”. In her deleted post she had gone to the extent of calling India as cow dung. The anti-India posturing did not end here. Her colleague in the Maldivian Government, Malsha Sharif also took the posture against India and Indian tourism campaign in Lakshadweep. This is a serious development considering that India has been reaching out to Maldives and extending the economic help in the times of crisis and peace both. Recently, when COVID has choked its economy and tourism. It was Indian intervention that saved Maldives from the economic crisis. The people who have resorted to derogatory statements against India and the Indian Prime Minister are no ordinary people. They are elected representatives of the Maldivian people. Not only that. A member of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives also shared a photograph claiming it to be of an island resort in Maldives. In reality the photograph is of Bora Bora islands in French Polynesia. He also falsely claimed that you won’t see this in Lakshadweep. What has led to this anti-Indi posturing? It needs a bit of analysis. There has been a consistent tirade against India in Maldives. And this has increased with the taking over of the reins of government in Maldives by the pro-Chinese regime. China has been consistent in destabilizing the Indian frontier. Be that in the sea or in the Himalayas. After creating subversion in the Himalayas, China has developed strategy to encircle India by instigating its neighbours in the Indian Ocean Region. We have seen how it has destabilized Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other Asian neighborhoods to tighten the noose around India. The economic rise and political stability in India has caused discomfort in China. Maldives is being used as a proxy by China against India. Another reason is that by developing the Lakshadweep as a most sought after tropical destination for the tourists. Maldives fears that it will lose the tourist traffic to India. It is mistaken. Tourism is guided by its own cultural pushes and pulls. And above all market stability and infrastructure facilitates tourism business. Instead of resorting to propaganda and xenophobia Maldives is advised to create its own professional tourism portfolio to compete in the tourism market. It must engage the tourism professionals to devise a good tourism marketing mix in terms of segmenting, targeting and positioning. By indulging in false propaganda, Maldives is losing a genuine friend that has stood by its people. By getting trapped by Chinese imperialism it will lose its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Maldives must look into its neighborhood and see how China has colonized its neighbors. Maldives must desist from being a proxy and mercenary of the Chinese imperialist designs against India and maintain good neighborly relations with its time tested neighbor.
