India pledges USD 40 million to develop sports

India has announced the decision to grant USD 40 million to the Maldives, to develop sports and related infrastructure across the island nation.

This announcement was made at a special ceremony held at the Ekuveni Synthetic Track by India's External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar. Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar is currently in the Maldives for a two-day official trip under invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid.

The Ekuveni Synthetic Track, where the event was hosted, was also developed recently with aid from India. Speaking at Saturday's ceremony, Dr. S. Jaishankar said that as sports and related infrastructure development projects currently underway in the Male' area and across islands in the Maldives progress, India wished to provide Maldives their full effort for the endeavor as President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had described the current state of sports development in the Maldives as never-before-seen and unprecedented.

India's Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar went on to confirm that India would be providing the Maldives a loan of USD 40 million, and that the agreement to do so would be signed shortly between the two countries. He added that this loan was being issued as aid to complete the various sports and related infrastructure development projects currently underway across the Maldives.

In addition to this, Dr. S. Jaishankar recalled how India has been a close development ally to the Maldives, noting the special attention being afforded by India to develop cricket in the Maldives as well. He added that a programme would soon be initiated in Chennai to train Maldivian cricket coaches, and that the hope was to have the Maldivian national cricket team participate in an international cricket tournament.

While neighboring India has pledged a loan of USD 40 million to further develop sports and sports related infrastructure ion the Maldives, this is perfectly in line with India's prior history of being an ally to Maldivian sports development. The Indian government has previously delivered free sports infrastructure aid to the Maldives by providing the equipment needed to set up outdoor gyms in 61 islands of the Maldives, in addition to providing aid to develop the Ekuveni Synthetic Track in Male' City.

India will also be the party helping develop the Maldives' first international cricket stadium. Further, India has in the past provided many opportunities for Maldivian national team athletes to train and develop their skills; Hassan Saaid, the Maldives' fastest runner, also trained in India prior to the 2019 Indian Ocean Island Games.