According to AFP, the three suspended deputy ministers are Malsha Shareef, Mariyam Shiuna and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid, all from the Maldives Ministry of Youth.
" The Government of Maldives is aware of the offensive comments on social media platforms directed at foreign leaders and high-ranking figures... These opinions are personal and do not represent the views of the Government of Maldives," the Maldives government said in a statement on January 7.
The statement said President Muizzu had suspended the three officials pending an investigation.
Earlier, three Maldivian officials had called Prime Minister Modi a "clown", "terrorist" and "Israeli puppet" on social network X (formerly Twitter), when commenting on the leader's visit to India's Lakshadweep islands to promote local tourism.
Mr. Modi in Lakshadweep
Modi on Thursday praised the “pristine beaches” of the Lakshadweep Islands on social media, posting photos of himself snorkeling and suggesting the islands should be on the must-visit list of any adventurous traveler.
Some see Mr Modi’s trip as an attempt to steal tourists from the Maldives, an archipelago of 1,192 islands in the Indian Ocean with many luxury resorts. Lakshadweep is about 130 km (80 miles) north of the nearest point in the Maldives, according to Reuters.
The row comes ahead of President Muizzu's visit to China (8-12 January). Mr Muizzu won elections last year on a pledge to end Maldives' "India First" policy in a region where New Delhi and Beijing are competing for influence. Mr Muizzu has also pledged to force India to withdraw its 75-strong military force stationed in the Maldives, a country of just over half a million people.
A senior Maldives official said the country was concerned about the consequences of the three officials' comments because Indians are the largest group of foreign tourists in the Maldives, while tourism accounts for nearly a third of the island nation's total economy.
A globally renowned holiday paradise, the Maldives has also recently become a geopolitical hotspot. Global East-West shipping routes pass through the 800-kilometer-long island nation, close to the equator.
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