On Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the interim budget on behalf of the Modi government.
In this budget, the government also mentioned its works of 10 years. Apart from not giving desired relief to the tax slabs, Modi government has given a big blow to the Muizzu government of Maldives.
In her speech in Parliament, Sitharaman first announced the budget for various projects in Lakshadweep and other Indian islands and then also talked about cutting the aid amount to Maldives.
According to the interim budget document released by the government, India has proposed a 22 percent cut in aid to Maldives for the 2024-25 financial year.
However, on the contrary, budget allocation has been increased for Sri Lanka, African countries, Mauritius and Seychelles.
The Indian government has allocated Rs 600 crore as assistance for infrastructure development in Maldives, which is the third largest assistance given by the government to foreign countries.
Maldives was provided assistance of Rs 770.90 crore in 2023-24, an increase of over 300 per cent from Rs 183.16 crore given in 2022-23. In fact, the government had initially allocated Rs 400 crore for Maldives in Budget 2023.
Later it was revised to Rs 770.90 crore. Over the past few years, India has been at the forefront of providing aid to the Maldives. India’s assistance to the island nation includes sectors such as defence, education, health care and infrastructure.
But, in the interim budget on Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed a 22 percent cut in aid to Maldives.
10 percent cut in aid to other countries also
However, not just Maldives, the Modi government has cut its total allocation of aid to foreign countries by 10 percent for the upcoming financial year.
India has set aside Rs 4883.56 crore for aid to foreign countries for 2024-25, down from Rs 5426.78 crore in the budget for 2023-24.
Interestingly, Lakshadweep was also mentioned in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech on Thursday. Sitharaman said special attention will be given to infrastructure development in Lakshadweep to promote tourism. “The Union Territory of Lakshadweep will get full attention from the government to improve its tourist infrastructure,” Sitharaman said.
More help to Sri Lanka than Maldives
According to the interim budget, Bhutan and Nepal will be the top two countries receiving aid from India. While Rs 2068.56 crore has been allocated for developmental assistance to Bhutan, Rs 700 crore has been set aside for Nepal. Other countries whose allocations have been reduced for the 2024-25 financial year include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Latin American nations. On the other hand, the budget allocation for Sri Lanka, African countries, Mauritius and Seychelles has been increased.
It is noteworthy that recently, a diplomatic dispute has started between India and Maldives after the derogatory comments of some Maldivian ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The controversy started when PM Modi visited Lakshadweep and shared pictures from there on social media. This was seen as promoting Lakshadweep as an alternative tourist destination to the island nation in the Maldives. The dispute that broke out between the two countries led to the cancellation of many hotel bookings and flight tickets to Maldives. It is believed that the new President of Maldives Mohammed Muizzu is anti-India and pro-China.