P. K. Balachandran
With the Maldives badly needing foreign exchange to meet its basic needs, President Mohamed Muizzu is bending over backwards to woo Indian tourists whose numbers have fallen due to the diplomatic standoff early this year.
In 2023, India was the biggest source market for Maldivian tourism, accounting for over 11% of the 1.8 million tourist arrivals. But by July 2024, India had come down to No. 6 with 71,381 arrivals, a 42.5% drop from the previous year. Currently, the highest number of tourist arrivals are from China. 228,000 Chinese have visited the Maldives so far this year. Russia accounts for 166,000 arrivals, UK 128,000, Germany 110,000 and Italy 107,000.
Be that as it may, by August 2024, India and Maldives had ended the estrangement. India offered Maldives much-needed financial relief and other bonanzas mainly to keep rival China at bay. But India is also simultaneously trying to build the Lakshadweep islands off the Kerala coast as a competitor to the Maldives, though it was at first a knee-jerk reaction to the “India Out” campaign in the Maldives.
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