India's dynamic Southern Indian Ocean strategy | Economic Times

NEW DELHI: India is infusing new dynamism to its policy to expand its footprints in its Southern Indian Ocean neighbourhood with a slew of infrastructure, development and capacity building projects besides providing financial support and more recently Covid-related medical help. In the last one and a half years India-Maldives relationship has been revitalized. During this period, Prime Minister of India has met President Solih four times, including two visits by PM to Maldives, in addition to virtual interactions. As many as 18 Agreements and MoUs have been signed in various areas in the last one and a half years. New areas of cooperation include parliament, judiciary, police, customs, civil services, culture and health. The financial assistance package of USD 1.4 Billion announced during the state visit of President Solih to India in December 2018 has been fully activated, officials told ET. This package includes budgetary support, investment in Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) Treasury Bills, Currency Swap Agreement and a new Line of Credit (LOC) of USD 800 million, officials added.A number of big infrastructure projects have been identified under the USD 800 million LOC, which include an International Cricket stadium, expansion of Hanimadhoo Airport, Gulhuifalhu Port project, Cancer Hospital etc, officials said, adding, India is also assisting in the construction of a new Institute for Security & Law Enforcement Studies (ISLES), assisting Maldives in its defence sector modernization, and helping restore the iconic Friday Mosque in Male also known as Hukuru Miskiy.In addition to large infrastructure projects, nine bilateral projects which are relatively small in scope but create high impact for community development are also being executed, across various sectors and across the geography of Maldives, according to above mentioned officials. 18 other projects are ongoing/completed under a 50 crore grant. The streets of Male are now lit up with LED lights supplied by India. A Made-in-India Fast Interceptor Craft ‘Kaamiyaab’ was gifted by India in Dec 2019, complementing other defence assets provided earlier.Increasing people-to-people contact is a hallmark of the relationship. Last year, Indian tourism inflows into Maldives almost doubled and India moved up from 5th to 2nd spot in terms of tourist arrivals at Maldives. This trend is likely to continue.In the current Covid crisis, Maldives has been the biggest beneficiary of India’s Covid related assistance among neighbours, officials informed. Two consignments of medicines, a 14-member Rapid Response Team, about 600 tons of food supplies (under Mission SAGAR) and capacity building assistance has been provided to Maldives. The PM also had a telephone conversation with President Solih in April 2020 and reiterated India’s steadfast support to assist Maldives in this unprecedented crisis. Similarly marked by the close engagement between the two leaderships and strong people to people ties, India’s engagement in Mauritius has evolved into a multi-faceted one. India is the largest development partner for Mauritius with extensive focus on people oriented projects. India extended a Special Economic Package (SEP) of USD 353 million announced in 2016, under India’s grant assistance, for five priority infrastructure projects, officials recalled. These include Metro Express Project- USD 275 m (Phase -1 completed); Supreme Court Building- USD 30 m (completed) ; New ENT Hospital- USD 14 m (completed); Social Housing project- USD 20 m (ongoing); e-Tablets- USD 14 m (completed).Lines of Credit (LOC) worth USD 600 million at concessional terms have been announced for Mauritius with priority focus on developmental projects. India is also extending assistance in Health care sector for construction of a Renal Unit and construction of 4 Mediclinics and 2 Area Health Centres AHCs (USD 12 million), officials informed.Currently ongoing India assisted ongoing/proposed projects in Mauritius include- Metro Express Project Phase 2, Social Housing Project (956 Units) Construction of Civil Service College, Renal Unit and four Mediclinics and two AHCs. Mauritius is one of the largest beneficiary countries of the India’s ITEC programme. In FY 2018-19, 210 civilian and 169 defence slots were offered. Mauritius is also the largest beneficiary of Africa Scholarships under IAFS with 97 ICCR scholarships extended annually for higher education in India. India was the first to send a medical consignment to Mauritius to deal with the Covid pandemic, officials informed. This included Hydrocloroquine (HCQ) tablet and other essential medicines. A special consignment of Ayurvedic medicines was also sent to Mauritius. A dedicated Medical Assistance Team was also deployed in Mauritius to supplement local government’s efforts against Covid-19 pandemic.Similarly, multifaceted development cooperation with Sri Lanka is one of the hallmarks of the bilateral relationship. India’s total development assistance portfolio in Sri Lanka now exceeds USD 3.45 billion, of which USD 560 million is in the form of grant assistance. India’s assistance programs in Sri Lanka focus on capacity-building, human resources development, connectivity, as well as infrastructure development.India has undertaken numerous development projects covering all the provinces in Sri Lanka. These span a wide range of areas from cultural conservation (restoration of Thiruketheeswaram temple) to construction of iconic landmarks (Jaffna Cultural Centre) to enhancing connectivity (restoration of railway lines). A unique nature of those projects is their people-centric nature, benefitting the common citizens in meaningful ways, officials claimed. Indian Housing Project to construct 50,000 houses in Sri Lanka is India’s flagship and largest grant assistance project in Sri Lanka. Over 48,600 houses have been constructed so far. A further 10,000 houses are planned to be constructed for the Indian-origin Tamil population in the upcountry region. The establishment of the nation-wide Emergency Ambulance Service with 297 ambulances under Indian grant assistance has received an overwhelming response in Sri Lanka including from the government and public. Started in two provinces initially, it was expanded to all the 9 provinces following demand from other areas. The Ambulances played a useful role in saving lives in the aftermath of the Easter terror bombing in Sri Lanka in April 2019. In the medical field, India has gifted a 150-bed hospital in Dickoya in Central province, a 200-bed ward complex at the General Hospital in Vavuniya, Northern Province, and upgraded medical facilities in 3 hospitals in the Northern Province. Currently, India is constructing a Surgical Unit in Batticaloa Teaching Hospital in the Eastern Province. India’s efforts have played a major role in improving connectivity in Sri Lanka, officials recalled. India has helped restore arterial railway lines, which sustained heavy damage in Tsunami in 2004. India has reconnected northern Sri Lanka with the rest of the country by restoring railway lines, establishing signaling systems and supplying rolling stocks. People in the Northern Provinces were happy to see the train services in 2014 after a gap of 25 years. India is also helping in the development of Kankesanthurai harbor in the northern tip. Air connectivity from Chennai to Jaffna was restored after a gap of more than 3 decades with the commencement of flights between Chennai and Jaffna in November 2019.Delhi has renovated various schools, provided computers, learning materials, created English Language Labs across the country, upgraded 4 Vocational Training Centres by providing equipment and created two new faculties one for Engineering and another for Agriculture in the University of Jaffna, Kilinochchi to strengthen the education infrastructure in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka joined the National Knowledge Network (NKN), being the first SAARC country to do so, through which the Sri Lankan Universities now has digital access to around 1600 universities in India.To revive the economy and support livelihood, India has created an Industrial Zone in Atchchuvely in Northern Province, provided boats and fishing equipment to the fishermen, set up Handicrafts village in the Southern Province, and created livelihood for war affected women in the Eastern Province, according to officials.In total, India has implemented more than 65 grant assistance projects in Sri Lanka. In addition there are more than 20 High Impact Community Development Projects that are being implemented in Sri Lanka that aim to benefit local communities with low-gestation period, people-centric projects. India has also been assisting in capacity building and training. Delhi offers around 700 scholarships annually to the Sri Lankan students and more than 400 slots under Indian Technical & Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program. In November 2019, during the visit of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to India, the PM has announced two new Lines of Credit for USD 400 million (for infrastructure development) and USD 50 million (for security and counter-terrorism). This is in addition to the USD 100 million LOC offered in 2018 for undertaking solar projects in Sri Lanka. India has supported the efforts of Sri Lanka in its fight against Covid 19 by providing them four consignments of Covid-19 related essential life saving medicines and equipment in April and May 2020. India was the first to send medicines to Sri Lanka.India’s bilateral engagement with Seychelles has evolved over historical contacts and continuous support to Seychelles for its security. Modi’s official visit (10-11 March 2015) to Seychelles was the first Prime Ministerial level visit from India in 34 years. It was a highly successful visit with substantive outcomes: signing of four Agreements/MoUs, inauguration of the Coastal Surveillance Radar System (CSRS) Project, announcement of gifting of a second Dornier aircraft to Seychelles and 3-month gratis visa for Seychelles nationals for travel to India.India and Seychelles have an elaborate architecture of defence and security cooperation that has deepened over the years with the growing piracy menace and other economic offences in the strategic Indian Ocean region. An important aspect of bilateral cooperation revolves around various development assistance programs extended to Seychelles. At present, India is in the process of funding the construction of National Priority Projects of Seychelles including Attorney General’s Office, Secretariat Building, Police Headquarters and a State of the art Convention Centre for Seychelles, all projects put together costing around USD 68 Million.