India-Maldives row | Our Government must make tougher stand to repair relation with India, says Maldives Opposition leader
The Hindu
Maldives opposition leader Fayyaz Ismail has asked the his government to take tougher stand to against those who made the racist comments against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Amid the ongoing row between India and the Maldives, opposition leader and the Chairperson of the Maldivian Democratic Party, Fayyaz Ismail, has called for the government to take a "tougher stand" , saying that the racist comments against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were just isolated individual opinions.
"I believe the Government should take a tougher stand on that because this goes beyond government to government. Now, because of the easy accessibility of social media, this has reached a lot of Indians and a lot of Maldivians. And as arguments take over from both sides, there have been a lot of insults going back and forth. So the Government needs to show that there was no intention on its part. These were just isolated individual opinions of these people who, unfortunately, were given positions in the government. So that needs to be clearly shown to the Indians, to the Maldivians, and the entire world at large," he said.
On January 2, PM Modi visited the Union Territory of Lakshadweep and shared several pictures, including some of him trying his hand at snorkelling. In a series of posts on X, he wrote a message that read, “For those who wish to embrace the adventurer in them, Lakshadweep has to be on your list.”
In a post that has now been deleted, the Maldivian Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Mariyam Shiuna, made a mocking and disrespectful reference to PM Modi. Indians, including cricketers and film celebrities, have since come out in open support in promoting local beach destinations and other tourist spots.
The Maldives government has distanced itself from the remarks made by its ministers. Three of them were suspended.
Maldivian Minister of Foreign Affairs Moosa Zameer said that these remarks against foreign leaders are “unacceptable” and do not reflect the official position of the Maldives government.
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