A report by the Maldives Ministry of Tourism showed that as many as 56,208 Indian tourists had visited Maldives between January and March 2023. This number declined to 34,847 in the January-March 2024 period.
Maldives faced severe backlash and a boycott campaign after multiple Maldivian officials, including its ministers, used derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi following his visit to Lakshadweep.
Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer, on Saturday (Apr 6) thanked his Indian counterpart External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and the government of India for renewing the quota to allow the export of certain quantities of essential commodities for his nation. This comes amid a diplomatic row between the two countries since November.
China said on Tuesday that it supports the Maldives in safeguarding its sovereignty, as the first batch of Indian military personnel operating a helicopter left the island nation and was replaced by a civilian crew.
Seeking to enhance maritime security and interoperability, coast guard personnel from India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka have embarked on a four-day trilateral exercise to identify emerging maritime challenges in the Indian Ocean Region.