Despite the turbulence in bilateral ties with the Maldives, Delhi will continue to prioritise development projects in the Indian Ocean archipelago.
In terms of assistance to foreign governments, India revised its budget allocation for the Maldives in 2023-24 from Rs 400 crore to Rs 770 crore. And for 2024-25, it has earmarked Rs 600 crore for the Maldives, which is next only to
Bhutan and Nepal
.
India has not allowed differences with Male, most notably in defence and security cooperation, to affect work on the $500 million
Greater Male Connectivity Project
, the largest infrastructure project in the country.All allocation for the Maldives is in the form of grant and not loan.
Maldivian Opposition criticizes Muizzu government's 'anti-India stance'
Like last year, Bhutan again topped the list of budgetary allocation, with India earmarking Rs 2,068 crore for Thimphu. The allocation for Nepal is Rs 700 crore.
India's overall estimate for assistance to foreign governments, including both grant and loan, for the year 2024-25 is Rs 5,667 crore, out of which Rs 4,677 crore is in the form of grant assistance and the remaining in the form of loan to Bhutan. This is about 874 crore less than the revised estimate for the previous year.
India's allocation for strife-torn Myanmar went down considerably from Rs 370 crore last year to Rs 250 crore for 2024-25.
English (US) ·