MUMBAI: Amid the row over Maldives politician Zahid Rameez criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Lakshadweep, megastar Amitabh Bachchan said, India is 'aatmanirbhar' (self-reliance), and admired the astonishingly beautiful locations of the Lakshadweep and Andamans.

Zahid Rameez, a council member of the Progressive Party of Maldives, had mocked the PM's visit, and said India would never be able to compete with Maldives in regards to tourism.

Bollywood celebs on Sunday urged their fans to explore Indian islands, and took to their social media accounts to promote Indian islands.

Joining the bandwagon, Big B re-shared former cricketer Virender Sehwag's tweet and wrote: "Viru paji .. this is so relevant and in the right spirit of our land .. our own are the very best .. I have been to Lakshadweep and Andamans and they are such astonishingly beautiful locations .. stunning waters beaches and the underwater experience is simply unbelievable .. ham Bharat hain, ham aatmanirbhar hain, hamari aatmanirbharta pe aanch mat daaliye.. Jai Hind".

Earlier, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Shraddha Kapoor and John Abraham promoted Indian islands.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Amitabh was last seen as the host of quiz based reality show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati 15'.

He next has 'The Umesh Chronicles', 'Kalki 2898 AD', 'Butterfly', and 'Vettaiyan' in the pipeline.