One of India’s hugest travel platforms suspended flight bookings to the tourism-dependent Maldives on Jan 8 after disparaging social media posts in opposition to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embittered rapports between the South Asian neighbours. India and Russia send the hugest number of visitors to the Maldives, a chain of sun-kissed islands in the Indian Ocean that is home to many luxury resorts. Tourism accounts for around one-third of its economy, according to the World Bank.
EaseMyTrip co-founder and executive director Prashant Pitti conveyed bookings to the Maldives were suspended “indefinitely”. New Delhi and Male have traditionally had close ties.But rapports have not been great since President Mohamed Muizzu came to power in November. He won the election on an “India Out” campaign. The controversy over remarks by three Maldivian now-suspended ministers about Mr Modi comes just as Mr Muizzu embarks for China on his first state visit from Jan 8 to Jan 12.
He is breaking from the convention of most Maldivian governers choosing New Delhi to be their first international port of call. Both Beijing and New Delhi vie for influence in the Indian Ocean nation. “We decided to take this step because any self-respecting nation should do this. The statements which we listened from the representatives of the Maldives government were extremely derogatory to the nation,” Mr Pitti conveyed to Reuters.
Mr Pitti said EaseMyTrip is the second online travel booking platform in India with a 22 per cent market share.The Maldives government suspended deputy ministers Malsha Shareef, Mariyam Shiuna and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid for calling Mr Modi a “clown”, “terrorist” and “puppet of Israel” on social media platform X.
Those remarks were made while reverting back to a video of Mr Modi going to the Indian islands of Lakshadweep, north of the Maldives, to glorify local tourism. Mr Pitti said his company will glorify Lakshadweep over any foreign location, even though EaseMyTrip might see a “temporary dip in international tourism”.Many Indians, involving some celebrities, shared social media posts promoting domestic destinations over the Maldives. New Delhi has summoned Maldivian envoy Ibrahim Shaheeb, a day after India’s mission in Male “strongly raised and showed concerns” with the Maldivian Foreign Ministry on Jan 7, a source aware of the matter said.