Day: January 7, 2024

Malsha Shareef, Mariyam Shiuna and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid all worked for the archipelago’s Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts and were disciplined for their comments on social media, the senior government official told Reuters.

The three had variously labeled Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “clown,” “terrorist” and “puppet of Israel” on social media platform X, in response to a video of him visiting the Indian islands of Lakshadweep to promote local tourism.

Some viewed his visit as trying to draw tourists away from the globally popular Maldives, whose 1,192 islands in the Indian Ocean are dotted with luxury resorts.

The Indian High Commission in the Maldives had “strongly raised and expressed concerns” over the comments, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The controversy comes ahead of a visit by President Mohamed Muizzu to China on Jan. 8-12. Muizzu won election last year with a pledge to end the Maldives’ “India first” policy in a region where New Delhi and Beijing compete for influence.

Muizzu also pledged to remove a small contingent of 75 Indian military personnel from the nation of just over half a million people.

Tourism campaign

Some prominent Indians, including actor Akshay Kumar and cricketer Hardik Pandya, expressed dismay at the comments by the now suspended Maldivian officials.

Neither of the three were immediately available for comment.

In a campaign to promote local tourism, other Indians, from former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar to actor Salman Khan, have urged people to visit their own islands rather than go abroad.

#ExploreIndianIslands is the second largest trending hashtag in India on X, and some Indians are sharing screenshots of canceled bookings of Maldivian holidays.

Maldives’ Foreign Ministry said the government was aware of “derogatory remarks” against foreign leaders and would not tolerate them.

“India has always been a good friend to Maldives and we must not allow such callous remarks to negatively impact the age-old friendship between our two countries,” added former Maldives President Ibrahim Solih on X.

The top-line figure includes $886 billion for defense and $704 billion for non-defense spending, Johnson, a Republican, said in a letter to lawmakers on Sunday. The defense portion had already been signed into law by President Joe Biden last month through the defense spending bill.

The non-defense discretionary funding will “protect key domestic priorities like veterans benefits, healthcare and nutrition assistance” from cuts sought by some Republicans, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a joint statement.

Their statement put non-defense spending at $772.7 billion, nearly $69 billion more than stated by Johnson. A Democratic aide said the additional money was “adjustments.”

Congress was scheduled to return to Washington this week to tackle Jan. 19 and Feb. 2 deadlines for settling government spending through September, amid Republican demands to reduce fiscal 2024 discretionary spending below caps agreed to in June.

Last spring, Biden and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached agreement — as part of a debt-limit increase deal — on $1.59 trillion in defense and non-defense discretionary spending.

Biden said on Sunday the deal moved the country one step closer to “preventing a needless government shutdown and protecting important national priorities.”

“It reflects the funding levels that I negotiated with both parties,” Biden said in a statement after the deal was announced.

The Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-controlled Senate will still have to agree on how to allocate these funds.

In his letter, Johnson said the “final spending levels will not satisfy everyone, and they do not cut as much spending as many of us would like.”

White House budget director Shalanda Young said on Friday she was not optimistic about reaching a deal to avoid a partial government shutdown later this month.

Armenisch-aserbaidschanischer Konflikt: Frieden nach 30 Jahren und drei Kriegen? Von Thomas Fasbender via ⁦@berlinerzeitung⁩ https://t.co/LGTmGSLmlf

— Notes from Georgia/South Caucasus (Hälbig, Ralph) (@SouthCaucasus) January 7, 2024