PM Modi's Maldives visit: What happened during India-Muizzu row in 2024? Timeline

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the Maldives on July 25, honouring the invitation extended by the country's President, Mohamed Muizzu. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said earlier this week that the two nations are in discussion to negotiate a free trade agreement and an investment treaty aimed at bolstering the economic ties. He pointed out that New Delhi continues to assistthe Maldives in capacity-building by training its defence personnel through regular training programmes and naval exercises. "We've been helping the Maldives enhance its capacity for EEZ surveillance and maritime domain awareness through the provision of ships and assets. The two countries are also cooperating under the gamut of the Colombo security conclave," he said. PM Modi's visit comes a year and a half after the two nations' bilateralties plummeted following a row over some tweets by junior Maldivian ministers. Here's what happened.

On January 4, 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the picturesque island. He posted the pictures of the island on X on January5. The post, however, didn't mention the Maldives. The same day, social media users began discussing why one would want to visit the Maldives when India has a picturesque place like the Lakshadweep. A huge India-Maldives diplomatic row began as three Maldivian ministers - Malsha Shareef, Mariyam Shiuna and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid - made derogatory remarks against PM Modi over his post, calling him a puppet of Israel.

The Indian government officially opposed the remarks made by the ministers and sought an explanation from the country. Reacting to the remark, the Muizzu government called the opinions personal.

"The Government of the Maldives is aware of derogatory remarks on social media platforms against foreign leaders and high-ranking individuals. These opinions are personal and do not represent the views of the Government of Maldives," it said in a statement, adding it believed in the freedom of expression.

Upset with the remarks against PM Modi and the stand of the Maldivian government, by January 7, several Indian social media users, including celebrities, had started posting under the trend #BoycottMaldives, asking Indians not to visit the island nation whose flagship industry is tourism.

Many Indian celebrities asked Indian tourists to explore the Lakshadweep islands instead. These celebrities included Sachin Tendulkar, Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Shraddha Kapoor, Salman Khan, PV Sindhu, Varun Dhawan and Shilpa Shetty.

Between January 8 and 12, Mohamed Muizzu visited China, where he made some adversarialremarks. However, he didn't name India. After returning from India's most prominent regional rival, China, he said the Maldives was small, but that “doesn't give you the licence to bully us”. He also said that the Maldives would diversify its imports, buying essentials from Turkey, Europe and the US, indicating the country wanted the nation to shift its reliance on New Delhi.

On January 14, the Maldivian government asked the Indian government to withdraw its troops stationed in the country. By May 10, 2024, India had withdrawn the troops.

Over the next few months, the number of Indian tourists in the Maldives dropped dramatically, hurting the island nation's economy. However, the two nations later began working on improving the diplomatic ties.

In April 2024, Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer distanced his government from the derogatory remarks made by these officials, stating that it was not the government's stance and that "proper action" had been taken to ensure it was not repeated.

In June 2024, Muizzu attended PM Modi's swearing-in ceremony in New Delhi.

On October 7, 2024, Mohamed Muizzu met PM Modi in New Delhi. In the meeting, the two leaders comprehensively reviewed the bilateral ties and noted the progress made by both countries in deepening their historically close and special relationship.

Over the past few months, the India-Maldives ties appear to have normalised. PM Modi will be the "Guest of Honour" for the 60th Anniversary celebrations of the Independence of the Maldives on July 26. This will be the Prime Minister's third visit to the Maldives and the first visit by a Head of State or Government to the Maldives during the Presidency of Mohamed Muizzu.