India and Maldives may not be on the best of terms, nevertheless in today’s interim budget, aid for the island has been hiked to Rs 770 crore from 400 crore. This incidentally is the highest allocation for a neighbouring state, underscoring India’s view that at the end of the day, nothing should come in the way of good ties between neighbours.
India has been heavily invested in Maldives development over the last four years, more so in the island’s biggest infrastructure project, the Greater Male Connectivity Project. It comprises a bridge nearly seven km long connecting the capital with three islands, for which India has provided $100 mn as grant and $400 mn as line of credit.
India is involved in water and sewerage projects across 35 Maldivian islands, airport and port development, land reclamation projects, a hospital and even a cricket stadium.
