Foreign Minister Subramaniam Jaishankar has urged tourists to travel to Sri Lanka for their next holiday (foreign holiday) amid diplomatic tensions with Maldives. Indians accounted for the largest nationality travelling to Maldives between 2021 and 2023.
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“My first advice to you would be, next time you want to take a holiday, go to Sri Lanka. You know I am serious. Please go to Sri Lanka. I say this to all of you. Mix with the normal people of Sri Lanka and ask them what do you know about India? I can tell you; you will feel yourself grow with the answer,” Jaishankar said at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM Mumbai) on January 30, 2024.
Jaishankar said India was the only country that had come forward when the rest of the world turned its back on Colombo at their height of economic crisis in 2022 with support even larger than the bailout package offered by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) “We actually committed 45 billion USD to Sri Lanka. To give you a reference point, Sri Lanka negotiated with a long time with the IMF that package was less than 3 billion USD, “he said.
In April 2022, Sri Lanka declared its first sovereign debt default due to a shortage of foreign exchange reserves. The shortage was triggered by an economic downturn which saw inflation soar, a massive energy crisis and scarcity of prices in the island nation. The Sri Lankan envoy to India, Milinda Moragoda told an Indian media agency that last year India’s assistance helped secure the IMF bailout of 2.9 billion USD.
Jaishankar’s warm words on Sri Lanka come amid the diplomatic row between India and Maldives, following PM Modi’s visit to Lakshadweep Island earlier this month. The three deputy ministers of Maldives now suspended made disparaging remarks against PM Modi when Indian social media users promoted tourism to Lakshadweep Islands following PM Modi’s visit. Boosting tourism to Lakshadweep also found mention in the interim budget announced by the Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2024.
Fervour for domestic tourism
The comments made by the three suspended ministers of Maldives led to a social media ardour to promote Lakshadweep as a tourist destination, a sentiment recognized by Sitharaman during her sixth budget speech. “To address emerging fervour for domestic tourism, projects for port connectivity, tourism infrastructure and amenities will be taken up on the islands, including Lakshadweep. This will also help in employment generation also,” she said in her budget speech.
The Finance Minister speech also brought to focus the Union government’s intention to support state governments in developing iconic tourist centres including in areas of branding and marketing at a global scale. “A framework for rating the centres based on quality of facilities and services will be established. Long term free interest loans will be provided to states for financing such development on matching basis,” she said.
Amid the diplomatic tensions between Male and New Delhi, the flow of tourists travelling to Maldives from India slowed bringing the country to the number five position in the first 30 days of January from two in the same month last year. According to data published by the tourist industry of Maldives, a total of 14,619 Indian tourists traveled to the island nation between 1-30 January 2024. In 2023, the full month saw a total of 18,612 Indian tourists to Maldives.
