Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu has appealed to China to increase the number of tourists sent to his country, following a diplomatic row with India.
Muizzu, who is on a five-day state visit to China, praised the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2014, saying that they “delivered the most significant infrastructure projects witnessed in Maldivian history”.
He urged China to bolster the flow of its tourists to the Maldives, which was China’s number one market pre-Covid. Muizzu’s appeal came after a spate of cancellations of reservations by Indian tourists following derogatory remarks by some Maldivian ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to data released by the Maldives Tourism Ministry, India has remained the largest tourist market for the country in 2023.