Batting for GMR: Should India use aid to armtwist Maldives?

The tussle between GMR Infrastructure and the Maldives government has escalated into a diplomatic row between India and the Maldives , with the focus shifting to a delayed $25 million aid to Maldives that had been promised by India.

A report in _The Times of India_today quoted Indian government sources as saying that India may consider using this aid as a tool “to tighten the screws if the situation worsened.“Indications are that the $25 million aid, which was part of the budgetary allocation,is already delayed.

[caption id=“attachment_545833” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  India has provided $350-370 million assistance to the Maldives. Reuters[/caption]

India has provided $350-370 million assistance to the Maldives, but it’s hard to see how using this aid to twist arms will help protectIndia’s economic interest.

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India enjoys Big Brother status to only a very few countries, and typically these are resource-rich countries that can help India meet its ever-growing food and energy requirements.

In that sense, maintaining good relations with them is important from the point of view of our own economy.

India also needs to keep in mind that China, the other Big Brother, is waiting to cash in on any disruption in India’s ties with these smaller countries.There are already indications that this is what is happening in the case of the Maldives.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid in an interview to _CNN-IBN,_had hinted at a “mischievous person” who may be working the situation to his advantage.

Urging the Maldives to keep in mind the value of its relationship with India, he told CNN-IBN, “I think that should not be undermined by any mischievous person who wants to use this as an excuse to create a gulf between them and us.”

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In the Maldives-GMR row, any move by India to get its way by holding back aid is tantamount to blackmail. This will only worsen the situation.In such an eventuality, China is sure to fish in troubled waters.

Fortunately, there are signs of restraint, and this is important for both India and the Maldives to maintain a healthy relationship.According to a report in The Economic Times, Khurshid is not looking to escalate the matter for now.

A press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs said Khurshid, in a telephone conversation with the Foreign Minister of Maldives, reminded him that the legal processes involved in the GMR case should be permitted to take their own course based on the contractual obligations of the parties involved. The Maldivian government should not allow the situation to go out of hand, Khurshid said.Going a step further, Indian authorities should also check if there has been any wrongdoing on GMR’s part.

There are no signs of anti-India sentiments in the Maldives yet. Tata Housing’s Rs 900 crore real estate project there is unaffected.

For GMR group Chairman GM Rao, however, the row has been a learning experience.“Fighting with a sovereign state has given a different experience. Whatever the message we get out from this issue, we will see that we will not repeat it,” Rao was quoted as saying in a report in the Business Standard.