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.