India-Maldives row: Traders body calls for boycott of business transactions with the island nation

Amid a nation-wide uproar over the derogatory comments made by ministers from Maldives, India’s leading traders and retailers body has called for boycott of business ties with the island nation. The call came after prominent Indians - from Bollywood stars like Akshay Kumar to achievers in sports like Irfan Pathan - condemned the comments from Maldives ministers. Superstar Salman Khan and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar also posted on social media platform X in support of the Prime Minister’s move to promote Lakshadweep.

Now, taking a step further the country’s apex industry body of traders and retailers, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), has called for a boycott of business transactions with Maldives. In a statement, the top office bearers of CAIT today said, it “has urged traders & exporters to refrain from conducting business dealings with the Maldives”.

It also stressed on “the need for mutual respect in diplomatic discourse and condemn any form of disrespect towards the leaders of friendly nations. The appeal encourages traders to stand united in sending a strong message against such behaviour by temporarily abstaining from trade engagements with the Maldives”, CAIT’s national president B C Bhartia and secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said in a joint statement.

Located in the Indian Ocean, Maldives has been a long-standing ally of India and is highly dependent on India’s products and services for its sustenance. As per the latest data available from the Government of India, India exported $317.35 million worth of goods & services to Maldives in 2021, which accounted for 12.4 per cent of its total imports in that year. While India imported some $5.94 million worth of goods & services from the island nation.

Among the category of products that India exported the most in 2021 was rocks and boulders - worth $26.21 million, followed by medicaments worth $16.87 million and aggregates & gravels ($4.41 million).

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