'Maldives will know what China is': Maldivian President Muizzu gets slammed for ministers' comments against India

The Government of Maldives is facing massive backlash for derogatory comments made by three of its ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he visited the Indian islands of Lakshadweep. Maldives deputy ministers Malsha Shareef, Mariyam Shiuna, and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid made offensive remarks against PM Modi and Lakshadweep. While Mariyam called PM Modi a "clown" and "puppet", Majid said India would face significant challenges competing with Maldives in beach tourism.

The Maldives government has suspended the three ministers but many in India see their remarks in line with what President Mohamed Muizzu promised during the election campaign when he said he would, if elected, alter the "India first" policy. Mohamed Muizzu, who is pro-China, was elected as president last year. He will be on a five-day visit to China from Monday (January 8). 

The derogatory comments from the three Maldivian ministers did not go down well with a huge section of Indians, with some saying Male will soon realise what Beijing is.

Retired Major General Harsha Kakar said India has always been a big brother for Maldives, whether it be tsunami, Covid, water crisis, or even an attempted coup. "Insulting an elder brother who has always given but taken nothing in return is an unpardonable insult," he said. "Time @MMuizzu and his government realize their mistake. Indians can on their own change the Maldives economy."

K Ramesh, a scientist, said the Maldives will come to know what China is and what the Chinese leaders are. "This is a test and like @SriLankaPM they will learn when the Chinese would have cheated them left and right making Maldives a bankrupt nation!" Ramesh was referring to China's 'debt-trap diplomacy', which has hurt Sri Lanka badly.

In November 2023, the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) said that in the last decade, Maldives' external debt to GDP ratio has skyrocketed, indicative of growing susceptibility to debt traps. The China Development Bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the Export-Import Bank of China hold over 60 per cent of Maldives' sovereign debt, the think tank said.

In a staff report published in November last year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the Maldives remains at a high risk of external and overall debt distress. It said the total public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) debt-to-GDP ratio declined from the pandemic peak but is expected to remain high over the medium term. "External financing needs are projected to rise and draw on the already thin reserve buffers, increasing debt rollover risks."

The Associated Press last year reported that a dozen poor countries were facing economic instability and even collapse under the weight of hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign loans, much of them from China. The countries that the news agency analysed had as much as 50 per cent of their foreign loans from China and most were devoting more than a third of government revenue to pay off foreign debt. "Zambia and Sri Lanka have already gone into default, unable to make even interest payments on loans financing the construction of ports, mines, and power plants," it said.

Also read: 'Immediately cancelled': Indians call off Maldives trips amid uproar over minister's post against PM Modi