‘I cannot guarantee that…..’ Says the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, amidst the India-Maldives Row

Jaishankar addresses India-Maldives row, acknowledges political ups and downs, emphasizes global connections and infrastructure development efforts.

Written by: Supriya Kadu

Edited by: Krutarth Ghosalkar

Last Updated: January 15, 2024

Summary: India-Maldives have been at war of words since the derogatory remarks passed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after his recent visit to Lakshadweep.

Three Maldives ministers, Mariam Shiuna, Malsha Shareef, and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid were suspended by the Maldives government for passing derogatory remarks at PM Narendra Modi, for his visit to lakshadweep.

External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, at his recent visit to town hall meeting at Kaviguru Kalidas Auditorium in Nagpur on saturday said that, “I cannot be guaranteed that every country will agree with or support India all the time”.

When asked about India-Maldives row, Jaishankar said, “Politics is politics. I cannot guarantee that every day in every country, everybody will support us or agree with us.” He also added that, “ What we are trying to do and with a lot of success at that in the last 10 years, is to build a very strong connect.”

Read: Maldives Flight Bookings Cancelled: Indian Business Leaders Lashes Out as the Anti-PM Narendra Modi Posts Goes Viral.

Jaishankar mentioned the efforts of India in the past decade in building strong connections globally, nurturing the positive sentiments among people, and being at its top game even with the highs and lows in political relations. He said, “Politics may have its ups and downs but the people of Maldives always have good intentions towards India and understand the importance of having good relations."

S Jaishankar also mentioned how India is involved in the infrastructure development of other countries. He said, “Today we are involved in building roads, supplying fuel, providing trade access, electricity, transmission, making investments, and having people holiday in other countries," he further added, “ Somedays, things do not go in a good way, then you have to reason with people to bring things back to where they should be.”

The incident relating to PM Modi’s recent trip to Lakshadweep, has put a serious dent on India and Maldives relations. Due to this, an online campaign was triggered to boycott Maldives with hashtag (#boycottmaldives) with even celebrities and top entrepreneurs following the trend and encouraging the tourism is lakshadweep and other domestic destinations.

Amid the row, Maldives has also asked India to withdraw Indian troops from Maldives by March 15.