NEW DELHI: India will give financial assistance of $1.4 billion to the Maldives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday, the biggest aid yet to the Indian Ocean island nation that is grappling with debt from a Chinese building spree.
Modi made the announcement after talks with Maldives’ new president, Mohamed Ibrahim Solih, who defeated the pro-China strongman Abdulla Yameen in a surprise election result in October and is trying to reset ties with India.
During a five-year construction boom in the Maldives, China built a sea bridge connecting the capital, Male, to the main airport and is developing the airport itself, as well as building housing on land reclaimed from the sea.
But the fast-paced building activity has stoked fears that the Maldives has loaded up on debt that could be anything from $1.5 billion to more than $3 billion.
Solih’s administration has said it is trying to find out just how much the country of 400,000 people owes China.
Modi said India stood ready to help the Maldives as a close friend and neighbor.
“For Maldives’ social and economic development we are providing a financial assistance of $1.4 billion in the form of budgetary support, currency swap agreements and concessional lines of credit,” he said during a brief media appearance with Solih.
Both India and China have been trying to build regional influence in the Maldives and other Indian Ocean countries such as Sri Lanka that lie along vital shipping lanes.
Soon after he took over last month, Solih said state coffers had been looted over the past few years and warned that the country was in financial difficulty after racking up debt with Chinese lenders.
Solih said the Maldives and India had signed agreements to cooperate on trade, health and defense. India would help improve Maldives’ security through joint patrols as well as aerial surveillance, officials said.
India’s big worry has been that China’s expansive diplomacy in the region was aimed at securing an outpost on an island in the Maldives.
Modi said he had discussed regional security with Solih and both had agreed not to allow each other’s territory to be used against the other.
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India gives $1.4 bln aid to Maldives amid worry over its China debt
India gives $1.4 bln aid to Maldives amid worry over its China debt
- India has long seen the Indian Ocean nation as part of its sphere of influence
- Solih defeated strongman Yameen Abdul Gayoom, who had forged increasingly closer to ties to China
Sweden intercepts suspected Russian drone during visit by French aircraft carrier
- Swedish naval ship observed the suspected drone during a patrol in the Oresund
- Kremlin says ‘absurd’ to suggest drone jammed near French aircraft carrier is Russian
STOCKHOLM: The Swedish military has intercepted a suspected Russian drone off the south of the country as a French aircraft carrier was docked in the port of Malmo, officials say.
Kremlin said it was ‘absurd’ to suggest drone jammed near French aircraft carrier was Russian.
The armed forces said on Thursday that a Swedish naval ship observed the suspected drone during a patrol in the Oresund, the strait that divides Sweden from Denmark.
They said that unspecified countermeasures were taken to disrupt the drone, and that contact with the drone was then lost.
The French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is in the southern Swedish city of Malmo this week as part of regular NATO exercise activities. Malmo is located on the Oresund, opposite the Danish capital of Copenhagen.
French military spokesperson Guillaume Vernet said that the drone was detected on Wednesday and handled by Swedish forces integrated into a security system around the carrier. He said Friday that the drone was more than 10 kilometers from the Charles de Gaulle.
“This system showed it is robust, and this event had no impact on the activity of the aircraft carrier battle group,” Vernet said.
Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson told public broadcaster SVT Thursday evening that the suspected violation of Swedish airspace by a drone happened in connection with a Russian military ship being in Swedish territorial waters. Asked what country he thinks the drone belongs to, he replied: “Probably Russia.”
The Russian ship continued into the Baltic Sea, and Swedish authorities have been in close contact with Denmark about the incident, Jonson said. The armed forces said no further drones were observed.
Western officials say Russia is masterminding a campaign of sabotage and disruption across Europe. An Associated Press database has documented well over 100 incidents.
Not all incidents are public and it can sometimes take officials months to establish a link to Moscow. While officials say the campaign — waged since President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — aims to deprive Kyiv of support, they believe Moscow is also trying to identify Europe’s weak spots and suck up law enforcement resources.
Kremlin said it was ‘absurd’ to suggest drone jammed near French aircraft carrier was Russian.
The armed forces said on Thursday that a Swedish naval ship observed the suspected drone during a patrol in the Oresund, the strait that divides Sweden from Denmark.
They said that unspecified countermeasures were taken to disrupt the drone, and that contact with the drone was then lost.
The French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is in the southern Swedish city of Malmo this week as part of regular NATO exercise activities. Malmo is located on the Oresund, opposite the Danish capital of Copenhagen.
French military spokesperson Guillaume Vernet said that the drone was detected on Wednesday and handled by Swedish forces integrated into a security system around the carrier. He said Friday that the drone was more than 10 kilometers from the Charles de Gaulle.
“This system showed it is robust, and this event had no impact on the activity of the aircraft carrier battle group,” Vernet said.
Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson told public broadcaster SVT Thursday evening that the suspected violation of Swedish airspace by a drone happened in connection with a Russian military ship being in Swedish territorial waters. Asked what country he thinks the drone belongs to, he replied: “Probably Russia.”
The Russian ship continued into the Baltic Sea, and Swedish authorities have been in close contact with Denmark about the incident, Jonson said. The armed forces said no further drones were observed.
Western officials say Russia is masterminding a campaign of sabotage and disruption across Europe. An Associated Press database has documented well over 100 incidents.
Not all incidents are public and it can sometimes take officials months to establish a link to Moscow. While officials say the campaign — waged since President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — aims to deprive Kyiv of support, they believe Moscow is also trying to identify Europe’s weak spots and suck up law enforcement resources.
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