#ChaloLakshadweep: EaseMyTrip suspends all Maldives flight bookings amid India-Maldives row

As the boycott movement against the Maldives gains traction, Nishant Pitti, CEO and co-founder of EaseMyTrip, has declared the suspension of all flight reservations to the Maldives. This decision comes in the wake of a direct response to offensive comments made by Maldivian ministers directed towards India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Pitti announced the discontinuation of flight bookings to the Maldives through a post on the social media platform X, stating, "In support of our nation, @EaseMyTrip .. EaseMyTrip began the Visit Lakshadweep campaign by #ChaloLakshadweep."
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The India-Maldives dispute, tagged with the hashtag #BoycottMaldives, gained momentum on social media, which led to Indian tourists cancelling their pre-planned trips to the archipelago.

Controversy erupted when Maldivian politicians targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi with derogatory comments and ridiculed his visit to Lakshadweep, showcasing the region as merely a tourist spot for Indians.

Earlier, the Indian Association of Tour Operators anticipated that the boycott campaign would become more apparent in the next 20-25 days. Meanwhile, if you scan through the social media, it can be found that numerous people from India on social media asserted that they had already withdrawn their plans for vacations to the Maldives. Not just celebrities, even cricketers joined the campaign to boycott Maldives.


Reportedly, there are sudden drops in Maldives booking, and it’s likely that people will not book trips to the Maldives as of now.
The Maldives, a sought-after tourist destination, particularly popular among Indian travellers, has witnessed a surge in its popularity. If data from the Maldives' Tourism Ministry are taken into consideration, it reveals that Indian tourists constituted the highest number of visitors to the country as of December 2023, with a total of 209,198 visitors, surpassing other nations, with Russia closely following at 209,146 visitors.

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In the wake of the controversy, Maldivian Ministers Mariyam Shiuna, Malsha Shareef, and Mahzoom Majid faced suspension due to their comments targeting Prime Minister Modi, leading to significant public backlash. Shiuna expressed derogatory remarks against PM Modi on the social media platform X, prompting the Maldives government to take action by suspending the three ministers for their disrespectful statements.
And as tensions escalated between India and the Maldives following these critical remarks about PM Modi, celebrities from the Indian film industry initiated a ‘Visit Lakshadweep’ campaign, using the hashtag #ExploreIndianIslands, which is fast gaining traction with every passing time.