India signs $400 mn loan pact with Maldives

India has signed a $400 mn loan pact with Maldives for a mega connectivity project that is expected to dwarf the Maldives-China Friendship Bridge as the most visible infrastructure project in the island country. New Delhi hopes the GMCP will also help show India’s expertise in conceptualising and implementing a complex infrastructural project. With this line of credit, Exim Bank has now provided three LOCs to Maldives totalling $1.2 bn as India provides generous assistance after a turnaround in ties following a change of government in Male. Projects covered under other LOCs relate to water and sewerage, island development, a cricket stadium, a port, an airport and a road.