India’s Modi Gives $1.4 Billion Aid to Maldives as it Struggles with China Debt

India’s Modi Gives $1.4 Billion Aid to Maldives as it Struggles with China Debt
Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands ahead of their meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India on Dec. 17, 2018. Adnan Abidi/Reuters
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NEW DELHI—India will give financial assistance of $1.4 billion to the Maldives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Dec. 17, 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.