India’s Maldives envoy seeks more protection after disparaging social media posts

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 2

The extreme bonhomie between India and Maldives has come under attack by a few journalists in Male.

It has led to sparks flying over the Indian High Commission’s letter to the Maldivian Foreign Ministry seeking enhanced protection for its diplomats and to take action against individuals or media outlets critical of India.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) opted to let the High Commission and Male sort out the issue by declining to comment on the developments.

“I think today the Maldivian Foreign Ministry has issued a statement. The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has also issued a statement. Let us leave it at that,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi while replying to questions on the issue at the weekly media briefing on Friday.

The leaked Indian High Commission letter to the Maldives Foreign Ministry spoke of “recent, recurring articles and social media posts attacking the dignity of the High Commission, the Head of the Mission, and members of diplomatic staff”.

It said the attacks were “motivated, malicious, and increasingly personal” and believed they were undertaken to create enmity and hatred between the Maldives and India.

The ruling MDP came out in support of the Indian High Commission by expressing deep concern over the “disparaging and ill-founded remarks” about Indian diplomats and called on the website co-founder to refrain from dragging in the Maldives’ diplomatic partners and allies into “petty political vendettas”.

The continuous barrage of anti-India vitriol appears to be a “well-funded, well-orchestrated and pre-meditated political campaign with the express purpose of whipping up hatred against the Maldives’ closest ally, India,” it said.

The MDP felt such campaigns of hatred carry real security concerns for the safety and security of diplomats in our country and condemned the propaganda “which is only motivated by the desire to sow discord and animosity”.

A timeline of prominent actors disparaging India’s close ties with Maldives on social media showed them posting celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC).