The feud between the Maldives and India is getting hotter. The Maldives dared to expel the Indian soldiers guarding the country. They chose to be friendly with China.

The feud started with a post by Indian PM Narendra Modi when he visited Lakshadweep, an island region in India which is one of India’s eight union territories in the Arabian Sea.

The post was commented on by three Maldives deputy ministers, Maryam Shiuna, Malsha Shareef, and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid.

Initially, Deputy Minister of the Maldives Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts, Abdulla Mahzoom Majid, commented on PM Modi’s post on X by saying that India would face big challenges if it competed with the Maldives in beach tourism.

The tweet also said that India was dirty and smelly. The tweet was later deleted. However, Indian netizens had already recorded and distributed the tweet.

Another Maldives Deputy Minister added to the heat by calling Modi a clown, terrorist and Israeli puppet on social media platform X. Reading these comments, Indian citizens were angry. They responded by collectively canceling their holidays to the Maldives and boycotting it.

The problems don’t stop there. The President of Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu then expelled Indian troops from the country’s territory on Monday (15/1).

India is known to have deployed 80 troops on the small Maldives islands to support the country’s military equipment. The presence of the army is also to assist humanitarian activities there.

However, Muizzu then proposed eliminating the presence of Indian troops in the Maldives in a meeting attended by senior diplomats from both countries.

“In this meeting, on behalf of President Muizzu, the Maldivian delegation proposed the removal of Indian soldiers as of March 15,” said Policy Director of the Office of the President of the Maldives, Ahmed Nazim, quoted by Reuters.

India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet responded to the Maldives’ plan to immediately expel its country’s troops from the island nation.

Under Muizzu’s administration, the Maldives chose to further strengthen their friendly relations with China. The President also visited Beijing last week, while agreeing on a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.