Few people probably know how to locate it on a map. The Laccadive Archipelago, a string of southern Indian islands in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Kerala, is at the heart of a crisis between India and the Maldives after the broadcast of images of Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in this atoll, intended to promote tourism there.
The two countries were already at loggerheads since the advent of the new Maldivian president, Mohamed Muizzu, a pro-Chinese elected in October 2023 with the slogan “India out”. One of his first decisions was to request the departure of Indian troops from his soil, 70 military personnel deployed to ensure the maintenance of three maritime surveillance and rescue aircraft donated to the Maldives. It had already terminated a bilateral agreement allowing Delhi to collaborate on seabed mapping in Maldivian territorial waters.
For several years now, the Indian authorities have wanted to promote the Laccadives, in competition with the Maldives. To this end, Narendra Modi appointed, in December 2020, a former MP and minister of the Indian People’s Party (BJP, Hindu nationalist, in power) from Gujarat, Praful Patel, who, upon his arrival, launched a plan to development allowing the administration to authoritatively acquire land, despite the hostility of residents and environmentalists, aware of the fragility of these atolls.
For the moment, access to the archipelago is subject to an entry permit and its hotel capacities are limited. Many islands are still uninhabited. Indians by far prefer the paradise beaches of the Maldives, where they represent the largest number of visitors along with the Russians.
On January 4, Narendra Modi posted images and videos on social networks showing him in the Laccadive archipelago, reading on a wicker armchair facing a turquoise sea, walking in slow motion on the white sand and learning about the diving with a mask and snorkel, wearing a life jacket – an unusual use for this activity. The media coverage of this stage caused laughter in India, where the Hindu nationalist’s opponents mocked his taste for staging, remembering a similar scene before the 2019 elections, where the prime minister candidate had photographed, alone, meditating in a Himalayan cave, draped in a saffron blanket.
The affair degenerated when three Maldivian ministers mocked Narendra Modi’s trip in very undiplomatic terms, calling the Indian Prime Minister a ” clown “ and of “terrorist” on social networks. Mariyam Shiuna, the youth minister, after mocking “Israel’s puppet, Mr. Narendra Diver [plongeur]with his life jacket »compared India to a ” cow dung “. His colleagues said the Indian prime minister’s visit to Laccadives was aimed at challenging Maldivian tourism.
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