WATCH: India summons Maldives envoy as diplomatic row escalates after ministers’ remarks against PM Modi
India, on Monday, summoned Maldives envoy Ibrahim Shaheeb after three ministers of the island nation made derogatory, offensive, racist and xenophobic comments against Indians as well as India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In the early hours of Monday, the Maldivian envoy was seen at the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi’s South Block.
#WATCH | Ibrahim Shaheeb, Maldives Envoy exits the MEA in Delhi’s South Block.
He had reached the Ministry amid row over Maldives MP’s post on PM Modi’s visit to Lakshadweep. pic.twitter.com/Dxsj3nkNvw
— ANI (@ANI) January 8, 2024
Three Maldivian ministers were suspended for derogatory remarks against PM Modi and India, which former Deputy Speaker of the island nation Eva Abdulla labelled as “shameful and racist”.
Over this weekend, PM Modi shared a series of posts on X from his visit to Lakshadweep islands. Soon after, some ministers of Maldives and social media users responded to it with derogatory comments targeting Indians at large, as well as the Indian prime minister.
Maldives’ Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts, was among those who posted remarks against India, saying, “What a clown. The puppet of Israel Mr. Narendra diver with life jacket.”
Shiuna later deleted her post, but here’s a screengrab of what she wrote.
Another deputy ministry, Malsha Sharif, made similar derogatory remark against India and the tourism campaign in the Lakshadweep.
A member of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives also shared a photograph, believed to be that of the Bora Bora islands in the French Polynesia, claiming it was an image of an island resort in the Maldives. “Sun set in Maldives. You won’t see this in Lakshadweep. #Visit Maldives. CC: @narendramodi” (sic), wrote Maaiz Mahmood.
Under immense pressure to set the record straight and assure India, Maldives government, led by pro-China leader Mohamed Muizzu, distanced itself from the derogatory remarks made by Shiuna and other leaders.
Maldives President Muizzu, who is on visit to China, on Sunday suspended three deputy ministers — Malsha Shareef, Mariyam Shiuna, and Abdulla Mahzoon Maajid — after derogatory comments posted by them.
The anti-India comments by some prominent Maldivians on X have prompted several Indian celebrities and social media influencers to call for a boycott of the Maldives as a tourism destination.
With inputs from agencies
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