India-Maldives Row: After EaseMyTrip suspends all flight bookings to Maldives, trade bodies appeal for boycott of island nation

India-Maldives Row: After the online travel solutions provider EaseMyTrip suspended all Maldives flight bookings on Monday, January 8, 2024, trade bodies like the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) also appealed for boycott of the island country.

The appeal came after derogatory remarks made by Maldives ministers against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After the incident, Nishant Pitti, co-founder and CEO of EaseMyTrip, announced on Monday the suspension of all flight bookings to Maldives.

 
The ICC joined in as they also appealed to all the members of the organisation and the tourism trade associations like the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI), Association of Domestic Tour Operators (ADTOI), and MICE Agents to stop the promotion of Maldives tourism. The appeal was made by Shubhas Goyal, Chairman, Aviation and Tourism Committee, ICC.
 
EaseMyTrip also started an online campaign to promote tourism in Lakshadweep, #ChaloLakshadweep, in an X post (formerly known as Twitter).
 
In a press release, the ICC also requested the organisations divert any inquiries for Maldives to Lakshadweep and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, as well as other places in the Indian Ocean like Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Bali, and Phuket.

The ICC also appealed to Indian airline carriers to suspend their operations in Maldives and also asked the members of FHRAI and the Hotel Association of India to look at investing in Lakshadweep Islands.

CAIT calls upon exporters and traders to refrain from business with Maldives 

CAIT National President B C Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that the offensive comments targeting Prime Minister Modi have been deemed unacceptable by the business community, and this call to boycott aims to express solidarity and register disapproval against such disrespectful behavior. 

The CAIT delegates also stressed on the need for mutual respect in diplomatic discourse and condemn any form of disrespect towards the leaders of friendly nations. The appeal encourages traders to stand united in sending a strong message against such behavior by temporarily abstaining from trade engagements with the Maldives.

CAIT's senior delegates also said that while international relations must be based on mutual respect and cooperation, derogatory comments aimed at political leaders can strain bilateral ties. They said that the appeal emphasizes the importance of maintaining diplomatic decorum and fostering positive relations between nations, and demanded that the Maldives Government should tender an apology to India for the unacceptable utterances of its few of responsible people.

The whole controversy was triggered when Maldivian politicians Mariyam Shiuna, Malsha Shareef, and Mahzoom Majid made disparaging remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ridiculed his visit to Lakshadweep. Shiuna made derogatory remarks against PM Modi on social media platform X, which were deleted later following backlash. The Maldives government suspended all three ministers over their derogatory remarks against Modi as tensions started developing between the two nations.
 
Many Indians took to social media and claimed that they had cancelled their planned holidays to the island nation. According to the data from the Maldives tourism ministry, Indians were the highest among visitors to the island nation until December 2023.

(With Inputs from Agencies)

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