India-aided project to dwarf Chinese bridge in Maldives

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 13

India today announced its participation in a mega connectivity project in the Maldives that will overshadow the Maldives-China Friendship Bridge as the most visible infrastructure project in the island nation.

The announcement accompanied by a financial package of $500 million was made by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during a video-conference with his Maldivian counterpart Abdullah Shahid.

Maldives will be the first neighbouring country “in keeping with our special ties” to qualify for an air travel movement of people from both sides for tourism and medical emergencies, Jaishankar said.

India also agreed to provide urgent financial assistance to Maldives, the first such aid to another country to deal with the pandemic. India’s participation in the Greater Malé Connectivity Project (GMCP) is in keeping with its declaration of expertise in completing infrastructure projects of the kind required by smaller nations. Recently, India completed the Supreme Court building in Mauritius, another Indian Ocean island-country with which diplomatic ties have been intensified.

“Once implemented, GMCP will render the Chinese project insignificant in comparison. It will help in demonstrating India’s overarching presence through a high-visibility project in the Greater Malé region and showcase India’s expertise in conceptualising and implementing a complex infrastructural project of this scale,” said sources.

Jaishankar also said a cargo ferry service between India and Maldives will begin shortly. India’s total financial commitment in Maldives covering all loan and grant projects is well over $2 billion, all of which have been announced after the coming into power of President Solih in November 2018.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said, “India will continue to support the Maldives in mitigating the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic,” asserting that their “special friendship” will always remain as deep as the waters of the Indian Ocean.

Modi was responding to Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s tweet, thanking him for India’s financial assistance to the island country.