India Maldives Relation : The attitude of Maldives, which used to talk big, has softened. In the last seven to eight months, it has realized that without India's mercy, it will be in a bad state, its economy will collapse and it will be on the streets. India's displeasure will cost it very heavily. Therefore, as soon as possible, New Delhi should be persuaded and relations with it should be restored as before. A big crack appeared in the strong relationship between India and Maldives in the month of January when President Mohammed returned from his visit to China.

After becoming the President, Moizzu went on a tour of China

After becoming the President, Mohammad Moizzu went on a visit to China. His visit to China was against tradition because whenever the government changes in Maldives, the first official visit of the head of the country has always been to India. Since Moizzu is considered a supporter of China, no one was surprised at his visit to Beijing. When Moizzu returned from China, he started growling at India or saying, to please China, and he started repeating the teachings of China. His decisions and statements were anti-India. He even gave a deadline to India to withdraw the Indian military personnel present there to rescue the people of Maldives from the emergency situation. He also said that Maldives is definitely a small country but it will not tolerate anyone's high-handedness.

Anti-India image created by statements

Moizzu, who came to power by giving the slogan of India Out in the elections, made his image anti-India through his deeds and decrees. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Lakshadweep in the first week of January, he posted pictures of the natural beauty of Lakshadweep on Instagram to show its beauty and to increase tourism there. Three ministers of Maldives did not like this. These ministers made very insulting comments about PM Modi. When anger grew in India against these ministers, the Moizzu government had to take their resignation. The matter was related to the honor and respect of the Indian Prime Minister, so the matter was not going to stop there. Soon 'Hashtag Boycott Maldives' started trending. The effect of this was that the tourism industry of Maldives collapsed. Indian airlines suspended flights to Maldives, people started going elsewhere for holidays. This directly affected the economy of Maldives.

India moved from 5th to 1st position

Maldives had become the first choice of Indians in a way. Within five years, it moved from the fifth position to the first position. In the year 2019, India was in second place and this year 1.66 lakh tourists went to Maldives. This was almost double as compared to 2018. In 2020, despite the pandemic like Corona, about 63000 Indian tourists reached Maldives. In 2021 and 2022, Indian tourists broke the record. In both these years, India was the largest tourist market of Maldives, and India's contribution to the total number of tourists coming here was about 23%. In the year 2021, 2.9 lakh tourists went there, and in 2022, 2.4 lakh tourists went there.

Tourism contributes 28% to Maldives' GDP

Tourism is the biggest industry of Maldives and it is 28% of its gross domestic product (GDP). But once Indians were hurt, they lost their faith in this island nation. The Maldives could not bear such a big blow to tourism, its back was breaking down...it understood the cost of messing with India, and it came to its senses. On top of that, the increasing foreign debt and the whip of the IMF forced the Moizzo government to look toward India. They understood that without India's help, they would not be able to sail through.

Jaishankar reached Maldives on a three-day visit

Then what, initiatives started to remove India's displeasure. First came the statement of the Tourism Minister of Maldives. Tourism Minister Ibrahim Faisal appealed to Indians to visit his country. He said - Our economy depends on tourism. India is our old friend. Then there was talk of doing a road show in India. Meanwhile, PM Modi's swearing-in took place. Moizzu participated in it. Slowly, there were talks behind the scenes as well. Relations started coming back on track. Then Foreign Minister Jaishankar reached Maldives on his three-day visit from 9 to 11 August and gave it gifts. Maldives described the recent visit of the Indian Foreign Minister as an important 'milestone' in bilateral relations. Jaishankar said that Maldives is a major partner of India in the Indian Ocean region and both countries aspire to transform their cooperation into a modern partnership.

Both the countries are once again returning to their old style of friendship. If Prime Minister Modi visits the Maldives shortly, then whatever little rift is left between the two countries will also end because there is always sweetness and sourness between neighbors.