Maldives Row Fact Check: Ministers, Celebrities Share Foreign Beach Photos as Destinations in India

These pictures shared by well-known personalities including politicians as being from India do not, in fact, depict Lakshadweep or any destination in India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Lakshadweep has created a lot of buzz on social media after he shared pictures of the island. It also led to a controversy surrounding Lakshadweep tourism, with many people comparing it to the Maldives. The Maldives government suspended three deputy ministers after they made derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media in connection with his Lakshadweep visit. The debate, which began on social media, has now snowballed into a full-scale diplomatic row between the two countries.

Against this backdrop, various politicians and ministers have urged people to travel to island destinations within India by sharing apparent images of places such as Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Port Blair.

Minister of earth sciences Kiren Rijiju has shared two pictures and identified them as from Lakshadweep. However, he later deleted the tweet.

In a now deleted tweet, actor Ranveer Singh also shared a picture and appealed to netizens to explore Indian beach destinations.

BJP MP Ravi Kishan also shared a few photos as places to explore in India.

Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag also shared a set of images as Indian destinations.

Right wing influencer Arun Pudur also amplified a few images as the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.

In addition, BJP leader Tajinder Bagga posted two images claiming they depicted the Chidiya Tapu Beach at Port Blair.

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