Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer, who is on his first visit to India has distanced himself from the government’s three ministers who used derogatory remarks against PM Narendra Modi and said that it was not the government’s stand and that proper action has been taken to ensure this incident won’t be repeated in the future.
In an interview with a media agency, the Maldivian foreign minister Zameer reiterated the government’s stance stating “I think you have seen, like you said, we have said that it was not the stand of the government and we believe that it shouldn’t have been done. And we are taking proper action to make sure that this doesn’t repeat.”
“And I think if you have seen, there has been some misunderstanding, social media mainly, but the governments of Maldives and India, we understand what has happened and we have passed that stage now,” he added. The row between the India and Maldives broke out over derogatory posts mad by three officials about PM Modi.
Following derogatory remarks against PM Modi Maldives Deputy Youth Ministers Mariyam Shiuna, Mahzoom Majid and Malsha Shareef were suspended indefinitely, but all three will continue to receive their salaries, the President office has said, Maldivian media reported. Providing further information about the suspensions Maldives President’s office Communications Minister Ibrahim Kaleel told the local media that the three deputy ministers were suspended indefinitely as a measure to look into the matter.
Male is now facing a boycott by Indian tourists, who are one of the largest contributors to the country’s income. In light of concerns about a potential decline in Indian tourist visits to the island nation following the controversy, minister Zameer expressed the government’s eagerness to mend ties with India and reiterated their invitation to Indian tourists.
“I think the minister of tourism has clearly said, that he would like to welcome and I like myself to welcome all Indians who would like to travel to Maldives. But I think in the long term, once we move forward because if you have seen in the last eight months in Maldives and India, we are going through election cycles, so I think we will move beyond that phase pretty soon and we would like all Indian tourists to come back,” he said.
And if you look at the trajectory of what has happened. If you go back about ten years ago, there continued to be a very important sources market and then the during COVID, Indian travellers actually came into all this in high numbers and then that trend continued. In the past couple of months and we have had about 16-17 per cent increase and then of course there has been a decrease in Indian markets but I’m confident that it will pick up in the near future,” he added.
Moosa Zameer also emphasised that peace and security of the Indian ocean is important countries in the neighbourhood including India said his government has not permitted Chinese vessel Xiang Yang Hong for research purposes in Maldivian waters. Elaborating on the port call for Chinese vessels, he said, “Our government issued personal rotation and friendly portable permits, and diplomatic clearances came from the Chinese side, which is very common in Maldives.”
“So that’s how it has happened we as a peaceful country, welcome those vessels which come for peaceful purposes. But they didn’t come for research in the Maldivian waters, we have not permitted the Chinese vessel for research in the Maldivian waters,” Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer said while maintaining that research vessels are not welcome in the Maldivian waters.
On April 27, Chinese marine research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 3 returned to Maldivian waters, marking its second visit to the archipelago nation within two months after Pro-China Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu’s ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) won the Parliamentary elections, as reported by Maldivian news agencies.
