New Delhi: Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Lakshadweep archipelago, a tweet by a Maldives minister has triggered a social media row. In the tweet, the minister accused India of targeting the Maldives and said India faces significant challenges in competing with the country in beach tourism.
PM Modi’s visit to the country’s smallest Union Territory comprising 36 islands with an area of 32 sqkm was seen as a move to promote tourism on the island.
PM Modi had posted on X about snorkelling in Lakshadweep, prompting social media users in India to suggest the island Union Territory as an alternate tourist destination to the Maldives.
For those who wish to embrace the adventurer in them, Lakshadweep has to be on your list.
During my stay, I also tried snorkelling – what an exhilarating experience it was! pic.twitter.com/rikUTGlFN7
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 4, 2024
‘Lakshadweep’ remained the most searched keyword on the internet in India for the second consecutive day on Friday (January 5) since Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Union Territory earlier this week and shared some photos from the picturesque archipelago. The term was ‘googled’ by over 50,000 users on the second day of PM Modi’s Jan 2-3 visit to the territory.
Zahid Rameez, a member of the Progressive Party of Maldives, posted on X, “The move is great. However, the idea of competing with us is 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.”
The move is great. However, the idea of competing with us is 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. 🤷🏻♂️ https://t.co/AzWMkcxdcf
— Zahid Rameez (@xahidcreator) January 5, 2024
Notably, India-Maldives ties have been strained in the past few months, after President Mohamed Muizzu came to power in November 2023. In his election pledge, he said he would remove a small contingent of some 75 Indian military personnel in his island nation and change Maldives’s “India first” policy.
The Maldives is barely 70 nautical miles from the island of Minicoy in Lakshadweep, and 300 nautical miles from the mainland’s western coast.
