Maldives President urges China to send more tourists after row with India

Facing tourism backlash from Indians, Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu on Tuesday appealed to China to "intensify" efforts to send more tourists to the island nation.

Muizzu, who is on an official visit to China, was addressing the Maldives Business Forum in Fujian Province. He termed China as the Maldives' "closest" ally.

"China remains one of our closest allies and development partners," he said.

"China was our (Maldives') number one market pre-Covid, and it is my request that we intensify efforts for China to regain this position," according to a readout posted on his official website.

Muizzu's appeal comes amid a spate of cancellation of reservations by Indian tourists after a diplomatic row erupted over offensive remarks by some Maldivian ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India.

Muizzu also praised China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project and expressed willingness to join it.

The two countries have signed a USD 50 million project to develop an integrated tourism zone on the Indian Ocean island.

The Maldives government suspended its three deputy ministers for their derogatory posts on social media after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tourism pitch for Lakshadweep.

However, the remarks angered Indians as they cancelled their planned vacations to the island nation. EaseMyTrip, an online travel company, also suspended flights to the Maldives amid the row.

In 2023, the highest number of visitors to the Maldives were from India, with 209,198 arrivals, followed by Russia in second place with 209,146 arrivals, and China in third place with 187,118 arrivals.