India-Maldives row: Muizzu says Maldives won't be bullied ( www.dw.com )

autotldr Bot , 5 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

---

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu asserted his country's independence amid fraying relations with India, as the island nation seeks closer ties with Beijing.

"We may be small but that doesn't give you the license to bully us," President Muizzu told the media after returning from  a visit to China on Saturday, in an apparent reference to the recent diplomatic row between the Maldives and its neighbor, India.

The insults directed at Modi sparked an immediate condemnation in India with many celebrities and ordinary Indians urging a boycott of island nation online.

Muizzu's administration reacted by suspending the three deputy ministers and released a statement emphasizing that the remarks on Modi did not reflect government policy.

According to Chinese state media, Beijing pledged to extend funding for infrastructure in the Maldives, as well as health care and agriculture, among other sectors.

Malé also announced plans to reduce the Maldives' dependency on India, including expanding health care to Thailand and UAE, importing staples from Turkey and medicines from Europe, and the US.

---

The original article contains 409 words, the summary contains 160 words. Saved 61%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!