 "PM Narendra Modi is in the Maldives. X/@narendramodi")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in the Maldives for a two-day state visit. In an indication of a major reset of ties, he will attend the island nation’s 60th Independence Day celebration in the capital Male on Saturday (July 26).
Sharing a post on X on Friday (July 26), PM Modi said he was “confident” that “India-Maldives friendship will scale new heights of progress in the times to come.” The ties between the two countries have witnessed a thaw in recent months, after a nosedive in relations early last year.
As PM Modi visits the Maldives, will tourists also return to the island country?
We will explain.
How the Maldives tourism was hit
The relations between India and the Maldives took a downturn in January 2024, when three Maldivian deputy ministers made derogatory remarks against PM Modi over his Lakshadweep visit.
The incident snowballed and some Indians launched a ‘Boycott Maldives’ campaign, threatening the island nation’s tourism-dependent economy.
Popular ticketing platforms such as EaseMyTrip, MakeMyTrip, and Ixigo also jumped into the fray. While MakeMyTrip and Ixigo promoted tourism within India, EaseMyTrip suspended all flight bookings to the Maldives.
After returning from his five-day visit to China last January, President Mohamed Muizzu said that the Maldives “may be a small island nation, but that does not allow others to bully” the country.
Muizzu had come to power in 2023 on an ‘India out’ plank, vowing to remove a contingent of dozens of Indian military personnel from the island country.
India withdrew all its soldiers from the Maldives ahead of the May 10, 2024, deadline set by President Muizzu.
As ties became frosty between Male and New Delhi, Indian tourists to the Maldives dropped by 42.5 per cent by July 2024, compared to the same period a year before.
India fell to the sixth spot last year from the top position in 2023.
While 2,09,193 Indian tourists arrived in the Maldives in 2023, the number plunged to 1,30,805 in 2024, as per India Today.
How Maldives is trying to woo Indians
India and the Maldives have witnessed a positive shift in ties since May last year, when Maldivian foreign minister Moosa Zameer visited India.
In October, President Muizzu exhorted Indians to visit the Maldives. “India is one of our largest tourism source markets and we hope to welcome more Indian tourists to the Maldives,” he said during a joint press briefing with PM Modi.
“Many Maldivians travel to India for tourism, medical purposes, education and many other needs. At the same time, the Maldives hosts a large number of Indians who contribute to the development of the Maldives,” he added.
Earlier, Maldivian tourism minister Ibrahim Faisal, during his India visit for a roadshow titled “Welcome India”, had appealed to Indian tourists. “Please be a part of the Maldives’ tourism. Our economy depends on tourism,” he had said.
The Maldives’ economy is heavily reliant on tourism, with the industry contributing nearly 30 per cent of GDP and generating over 60 per cent of foreign currency earnings, as per Indian Express.
The Maldives government’s goal is to attract 3,00,000 Indian tourists in 2025. It has been organising events in India to reach that target.
“We are conducting it as a very big campaign. For the first time, we are targeting to hire a brand ambassador to advertise in the Indian mass media. We are also trying to hold cricket summer camps in Maldives,” Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) chairman Abdulla Ghiyas told a local news portal Adhadhu last May.
The MMPRC is also working with Indian and Maldivian airlines to bring tourists from more destinations in India, such as Kolkata, Pune and Chennai.
The Maldives needs Indian tourists, who visit the country in peak seasons as well as off-season.
In a big nod to a reset in ties, PM Modi is likely to visit a beach in the Maldives during his visit. But will it help the island nation meet its target? Only time will tell.
With inputs from agencies