The Maldives has begun accepting RuPay card payments to attract Indian tourists, a measure announced following diplomatic tensions between India and the Maldives. This move, along with the impending introduction of UPI payments,

The president of the Maldives swept into power a year ago on a campaign to push India out of the island nation’s affairs and draw closer to China. Now, as a debt crisis looms and earlier Chinese loans come due,

He agreed to open an Indian consulate and endorsed an India-funded military harbor — projects he previously opposed as they allegedly threatened Maldivian sovereignty.