"I am still in awe of the stunning beauty of its islands…" began PM Narendra Modi’s social media post on 4 January. "I had the opportunity to interact with people in Agatti, Bangaram and Kavaratti… here are some glimpses, including aerial glimpses from Lakshadweep... for those who wish to embrace the adventurer in them, Lakshadweep has to be on your list.

"During my stay, I also tried snorkelling — what an exhilarating experience it was! And those early morning walks along the pristine beaches were also moments of pure bliss…" concluded the gush about his two-day stay in Lakshadweep.

The scripted spiel was as much about his latest modelling assignment—do not miss the sartorial details — as his first visit to Lakshadweep; it was the second by a serving Indian prime minister. In December 1987, when Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister, he had attended to official work and then spent a year-end vacation on Bangaram island.

This visit had been raked up by Modi during his election campaign in 2019, alleging that Rajiv Gandhi had misused his office for a private holiday — charges that retired defence services officers and the then Lakshadweep administrator Wajahat Habibullah had refuted as disinformation.

PM Modi’s posts with photographs of him snorkelling in a life jacket also prompted tongue-wags on social media, but the context for three Maldivian deputy ministers calling him a ‘terrorist’ and mocking him as a ‘clown’ is not clear, since the posts were deleted within hours following a social media shitstorm.

All the three ministers were immediately ‘suspended’ and President Mohamed Muizzu, elected in October on an ‘India out’ plank, sought to placate ruffled feathers by condemning the comments as highly irresponsible. The Maldivian government expressed its regrets and Maldivian trade bodies apologised to their Indian partners.

Even while tamping down the diplomatic fracas with India, Muizzu, who was recently on a five-day state visit to China, met President Xi Jinping on 10 January and signed........

© National Herald