India-Maldives relation: EaseMyTrip stands firm on halting bookings, says ’our nationalistic approach won’t change’

Even though the relations between India and Maldives are slowly returning to normal after Maldivian foreign minister Moosa Zameer's visit to India, EaseMyTrip on Saturday said that it remains firm on halting bookings, adding, that the nationalistic approach won't change.

The reaction came in response to a Kerala Congress tweet accusing EaseMyTrip of quietly resuming booking to the Maldives.

In a post on X, posting a screenshot of the LiveMint story, Kerala Congress asked, “Couple of months ago, online travel aggregator @EaseMyTrip made a nationalistic move by removing Maldives as a destination from their flight and hotel booking platform to support Modi. Now they have quietly resumed booking to Maldives. We are wondering what happened.”

The post on X handle further said, “Is it a sign of something? Is money more important than Modi? Money will come and go, so is Modi!”

Also Read: Maldives anti-India stance: It shouldn't have been done, says Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer

Reacting to that, EaseMyTrip CEO Nishant Pitti said that some bookings did occur, but immediate action was taken.

“Dear@INCIndia, thank you for your concern. @EaseMyTrip has halted Maldives bookings from January 8th until today. Some bookings did occur between May 16th - 26th, but we took immediate action and got them removed,” said Pitti.

Further questioning why they focus only on us, Pitti added, “Are you not aware of other Chinese-owned travel portals that never stopped promoting Maldives in the first place? We’ve been serving for the last 16 years without any foreign investments.”

Also Read: After boycotting Maldives, EaseMyTrip quietly restarts flight bookings to island nation

“Yes, you’re right, nothing is permanent—the money will come and go. But our nationalistic approach will never change. By the way, we are here for the long haul, and it’s not easy for us to go. Hope you understand,” the CEO added.

Recently, EaseMyTrip recently reported its highest-ever earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for the fiscal year 2024, amounting to ₹2,282 million, reflecting a 19 percent year-on-year growth.

Also Read: India Maldives Relations: Officials to review community development projects funding by Indian grant

During his visit to India on May 9, Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer stated that the island country is taking “proper action" to ensure that ‘derogatory remarks’ against India are not repeated.