India accepts Maldives' request to rollover $50 million loan

India has facilitated Maldives' request to rollover $50 million provided as budget support to the island nation in 2019.

Maldives foreign ministry in a statement on Monday said the budget support was in the form of a rollover of $50 million Treasury Bill, for an additional year, through the State Bank of India in the capital Male.

India’s decision to rollover the T-Bill came following a request to that effect made by Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer to India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, during the official bilateral visit to India last week.

"Government of Maldives is highly appreciative of the generous support that Government of India has been providing to the Maldives in the form of budgetary support," the statement said.

Large number of infrastructural developmental projects and High Impact Community Developmental projects are underway with the assistance from the Government of India, which consists of a notable part as grant assistance, it added.

Zameer told reporters on Saturday that he had requested the Indian government to extend the repayment duration for the USD 200 million loan that India had provided as budgetary support in 2019 under former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

Of the USD 200 million, USD 50 million was paid back to India in January and another $50 million invested in T-bills was due this month. The remaining amount also in T-bills will be due in September.

Official data showed the Maldives' foreign debt reaching $4.038 billion last year, about 118 percent of gross domestic product and up nearly $250 million from 2022. 

Pro-China President Mohamed Muizzu won office last year while campaigning on a promise to downgrade ties with India, and has since reoriented the strategically placed archipelago nation towards Beijing. 

After coming to power, he demanded the withdrawal of Indian soldiers who had been stationed in the upscale beach holiday destination to assist with maritime patrols.

The third and final batch of 27 Indian troops left the archipelago on Friday, the official said, declining to be named as they were not authorised to speak to media.

Another 51 soldiers had left the atoll nation by Tuesday, according to Indian and Maldivian officials.

The dispute over the garrison, and the Maldives' overtures to Beijing, have been viewed with consternation in New Delhi. 

But both South Asian nations struck a conciliatory note in a meeting between their foreign ministers in the Indian capital a day before the withdrawal deadline. 

Zameer said his trip to Delhi marked a "new initiative of collaboration, symbolising enduring friendship and shared goals".

His Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar said both countries had a common interest in reaching "an understanding on how best we take our relationship forward."