Indian High Commissioner to Maldives Munu Mahawar had a "pre-arranged meeting" at the Foreign Ministry today, the Indian High Commission in Maldives has claimed.

Mahawar appeared at the Foreign Ministry at noon today while Maldives Ambassador in New Delhi Ibrahim Shaheeb was summoned to the Indian External Affairs Ministry earlier in the morning.

"High Commissioner Munu Mahawar had a pre-arranged meeting with H.E. Dr Ali Naseer Mohamed, Ambassador at Large, at Ministry of Foreign Affair, Maldives, today to discuss bilateral issues," the Indian High Commission tweeted.

However, a government official told Adhadhu that Mahawar was summoned to the ministry due to a row between the two countries after three Maldivian deputy ministers made derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media.

Mahawar entered the Foreign Ministry at 12:03 pm and left at 12:31 pm. He spent 28 minutes inside the Foreign Ministry.

Ambassadors are summoned in connection with major issues between countries. The biggest issue between Maldives and India at the moment is the derogatory remarks aimed at Modi by the deputy ministers.

Heated exchanges have been taking place on X between some top officials of the Maldivian government and Indian citizens and troll accounts. The spat was kicked off by a video posted by Modi to promote tourism in Lakshadweep.

Indian political commenters on X characterized Modi's video as a threat to Maldives tourism. An account named "Mister Sinha" called the current Maldives government "a Chinese puppet" and suggested that the video would boost tourist arrivals to Lakshadweep.

The tweet prompted responses from senior officials in defense of the government. Some individuals mocked Modi and used obscene language from verified accounts of top government officials.

In a tweet that she has since deleted, Shiuna called Modi a "joker" and "puppet of Israel." Such tweets on official accounts of government officials completely disregard bilateral ties between the countries, Indian accounts noted.

This caused a social media campaign, joined by Bollywood stars, against Maldives tourism.

The largest source market for Maldives tourism in the past three years was India. From 2021 to 2023, over 200,000 Indians visited the Maldives annually.

Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, John Abraham and Tiger Shroff posted on X calling on supporters to choose Lakshadweep over the Maldives. Star cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has made a similar post.

Maldives tourism industry stakeholders have expressed concern over the pressure they are facing due to the social media posts.