Three ministers are suspended in the India-Maldives diplomatic row; EaseMyTrip suspends reservations; Lakshadweep is the focus

 

The largest number of tourists who visited the Maldives were from India , Russia and china

Following a social media outcry against their disparaging remarks regarding Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Maldives government banned three ministers. As a result, thousands of hotel and airline reservations made by Indian tourists were cancelled.

According to media sources, the Maldives government suspended three of its ministers, Hassan Zihan, Mariyam Shiuna, and Malsha, for making "derogatory remarks on India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, following the latter's Lakshadweep visit."

"All government officials responsible for the comments have been suspended from their post effective immediately," stated Ibrahim Khaleel, a spokesman for the Maldives government, as quoted by the local media. Hassan Zihan, one of the Maldivian cabinet's suspended deputy ministers, had referred to the news as "Fake" and cited a tweet from the local media on the microblogging site X.

What took place?

Last week, after PM Modi uploaded a video of himself on a beach in Lakshadweep, a minister and a few other Maldivian leaders made disparaging statements about him on social media, sparking a heated debate.

The images of Prime Minister Modi from his most recent trip to Lakshadweep were included in a post by Mariyam Shiuna that has since been removed. The Indian prime minister was called a "clown" and a "puppet of Israel" by the deputy minister of youth empowerment, information, and the arts.

The Maldivian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Sunday stating that they were aware of the "derogatory remarks against foreign leaders and high-ranking individuals on social media platforms." They further stated that "these opinions are personal and do not represent the views of the Government of the Maldives."