Page 8 - Maldives

China agrees to consider restructuring of loans: Maldives President Muizzu

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said on Saturday that China, largest external creditor to the country, has agreed to consider restructuring the repayment of loans taken by his country and the governments will initiate negotiations soon. He told the media in Male after his return from a five-day high-profile state visit to China that he has directly appealed to Chinese President Xi Jinping to restructure the loans provided to the Maldives. He said that the loans were direct loans and that a technical team from China's Finance Ministry will travel to Maldives soon to research and decide the way to offer a grace period in loan repayments over next five years, Maldives news portal Sun online reported. This will allow us great easements in loan repayment, he said. China is currently the Indian Ocean island nation's largest external creditor, comprising about 20 per cent of its total public debt, according to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Data shows that Maldives owe

Firmly oppose interference in Maldives: China as Muizzu winds up visit

China on Thursday said that it "firmly opposes external interference" in the internal affairs of the Maldives and supports the island nation in upholding its sovereignty and independence as Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu concluded his maiden visit here. "The two sides agree to continue firmly supporting each other in safeguarding their respective core interests," a joint statement issued at the end of Muizzu's talks with Chinese leaders said. "China firmly supports the Maldives in upholding its national sovereignty, independence and national dignity, respects and supports the Maldives' exploration of a development path that suits its national conditions, and firmly opposes external interference in the internal affairs of the Maldives," it said. The statement comes at a time when Maldives headed by Muizzu, who is regarded as a pro-Beijing leader, was involved in a diplomatic row with India over derogatory statements made by three Maldivian ministers against Prime Minister Narendr

India-Maldives spat: Foreign tourists, locals vouch for Indian destinations

Amid the ongoing rift between India and the Maldives, the foreign visitors here shared the experiences of their visits to various Indian states and lauded Indian tradition, culture and colour

Lakshadweep's 'one-stop' tourism guide website launched by Thrillophilia

Lakshadweep tourism: Rajasthan-based travel platform Thrillophilia has announced a dedicated online platform for Lakshadweep for all travel-related information

Maldives, China sign 20 agreements amid diplomatic row with India

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday held talks with his Maldivian counterpart Mohamed Muizzu following which the two countries signed 20 key agreements, including one on tourism cooperation, and elevated their bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. The two heads of state announced the elevation of bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. "20 key agreements were signed today between the Government of the Maldives and the Government of China this afternoon and both the Presidents witnessed the signing ceremony," Maldivian President's office said in a post on X. The agreements signed included one tourism cooperation, disaster risk reduction, blue economy, strengthening investment in the digital economy and the Belt and Road Initiative. China will also provide grant assistance to the Maldives, but the amount was not disclosed. Muizzu and his wife Sajida Mohammad were given a ceremonia

Maldives' ruling coalition deployed anti-India sentiments during 2023 polls

The ruling coalition of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the People's National Congress (PNC) deployed anti-India sentiments and attempted to spread disinformation around this theme during the on the 2023 presidential elections, according to a report issued by the European Union. The European Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Maldives published its final report on Tuesday on the two rounds of election that took place on September 9 and 30 last year. Following an 11-week-long observation in the archipelagic nation in the Indian Ocean, upon the invitation of national authorities, the EU EOM found the campaign run by the PPM-PNC coalition was based on fears of Indian influences on the nation. "EU EOM observers noted instances of derogatory language, directed towards the president, on the side of PPM-PNC, reads the report. Their campaign included anti-Indian sentiments, based on fears of Indian influences and anxiety regarding a presence of Indian military personnel insid

Chinese arrivals in Maldives rose to third spot in 2023, shows data

In CY 2023, Chinese footfall jump­ed to the third spot. They are very close to the numbers from India and Russia and may soon soar to the number 1 spot

Maldivian tour operators panic as Indians cancel flight bookings

The Maldivian Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) has stressed that the Indian market is important to the success of the tourism sector in the Maldives

Maldives president urges China to send more tourists amid row with India

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu on Tuesday appealed to China to "intensify" efforts to send more tourists to his country, amid a spate of cancellation of reservations by Indian tourists after a diplomatic row erupted over the derogatory remarks by his ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the second day of his five-day state visit to China, Muizzu in his address to the Maldives Business Forum in Fujian Province on Tuesday termed China as the island nation's "closest" ally. "China remains one of our closest allies and development partners," he said. He praised the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2014, saying that they "delivered the most significant infrastructure projects witnessed in Maldivian history", according to his speech. He urged China to bolster the flow of its tourists to the Maldives. "China was our (Maldives') number one market pre-Covid, and it is my request that we intensify efforts for China to rega

Highlights: Indians' boycott will hit us hard, says ex-Maldives minister

Lakshadweep row highlights: Catch all the highlights on India-Maldives spat

Backlash in paradise: Maldives tourism dips after comments on PM Modi

Former Member of Parliament from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bishnu Pada Ray, condemned the unjust criticism from Maldivian ministers

New airport for army, civilian aircraft in Lakshadweep's Minicoy on cards

From the military point of view, the airfield would give India a strong capability as it can be used as a base to keep an eye on the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean region

'India our 911 call', says former Maldives minister amid row. Top points

The Maldives government has suspended three deputy ministers for making disparaging remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Maldives president courts investors in China as ties with India sag

Muizzu said his government was keen to explore partnerships under Belt and Road, including the expansion of the country's central airport and commercial port

Maldives tourism body MATI condemns derogatory comments against PM Modi

Terming India as one of the closest neighbours and allies of the Maldives, MATI noted that India has always been a first responder to various crises throughout the history of the island country

Diplomatic row leads Maldivian storm spread to travel, trade, celebland

As #BoycottMaldives trended, a travel technology firm decided to indefinitely suspend all flight bookings to the island nation. Meanwhile, searches for Lakshadweep shot up manyfold

'Boycott will hit hard as over 200,000 Indians visit Maldives yearly'

Over 2 lakh Indians visited Maldives annually in the last three years, the highest from any country post-COVID 19 pandemic, according to the official data amid calls from several quarters to boycott the island nation as a travel destination following a diplomatic row between the two nations. According to the Maldives Tourism Ministry statistics, over 17 lakh tourists visited the island nation in 2023, out of which more than 2,09,198 visitors were Indians followed by Russians (2,09,146) and China (1,87,118). The number of Indian visitors was more than 2.4 lakh in 2022 while over 2.11 lakh Indians flew to the Maldives in 2021. The Maldives was also one of the few countries open for international tourists during the pandemic and nearly 63,000 Indians visited that country during that period. In 2018, India was the fifth-largest source of tourist arrivals in the Maldives with 90,474 visitors. In 2019, India reached the second spot with 1.66 lakh Indians visiting that country. However,

India-Maldives row: Traders to refrain from dealing with island, asks CAIT

Amid the India-Maldives diplomatic row, traders' body CAIT on Monday called upon domestic traders and exporters to refrain from conducting business dealings with the island nation. CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal observed that the offensive comments targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been deemed unacceptable by the business community, and this call to boycott aims to express solidarity and register disapproval against such disrespectful behaviour. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) stated it has "urged traders and exporters to refrain from conducting business dealings with the Maldives". Khandelwal said the appeal "encourages traders to stand united in sending a strong message against such behaviour by temporarily abstaining from trade engagements with the Maldives". Khandelwal stressed upon the need for mutual respect in diplomatic discourse and condemned any form of disrespect towards the leaders of friendly nations. Meanwhile, the Maldivian envoy t

Highlights on Maldives row: MakeMyTrip launches 'Beaches of India' campaign

Highlights on Lakshadweep issue: Catch all the latest developments on the India-Maldives row here

Maldives as tourist hub: Its history and what lies ahead for island nation

Maldives, with a population of 550,000 people dispersed across 185 islands, has become a popular tourist hub in the last five decades and today attracts about 25% of its GDP directly from tourism