New Delhi: India on Monday set aside over Rs 5,848.58 crore in its budget for 2023 as development assistance for countries in its neighborhood as well as in Africa and Latin America, with Bhutan getting the maximum allocation of Rs 2,400 crore while Rs 100 crore will be given to Chabahar port project in Iran, a critical port from New Delhi's perspective along with Taliban Ruled Afghanistan getting Rs 200 crore while Mauritius getting Rs 460.79 crore.
Maldives, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean that is vital to India’s strategy for the Indian Ocean and its neighborhood which also witnessed a huge anti-India campaigning by former President Abdulla Yameen received Rs 400 crore as India has been involved in a number of infrastructure projects in the Maldives, including the Greater Malé Connectivity Project.
Afghanistan which is now under the Taliban regime and is facing complete global isolation continues to receive India's support for the people of Afghanistan is set to receive Rs 200 cr despite the fact that India does not recognize the Taliban regime.
Reacting to this development, former Ambassador JK Tripathi said: "Bhutan has been an epicenter of the tussle between India and China. The Doklam incident in 2017, the recent problems witnessed in Sikkim, and a couple of years back at an environmental conference, China staked the claims of some of the Bhutanese territories and wanted to exchange them with a sanctuary. Then, China and Bhutan signed a pact according to which they will negotiate their border issues. So with all this, it becomes imperative for India to have Bhutan safely in our friendly sphere."
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Similarly, "Maldives, which is located at a very geostrategic location in the Indian Ocean and is a region that has seen successive governments swinging like a pendulum between India and China. So Maldives' geostrategic location is very crucial for India and thus the fund allocated to them would ensure that it does not go into the lap of China," said Tripathi.
It is pertinent to note here that Bhutan last year received Rs 2,266 crore while this year it is 2,400 crore, an increment of Rs 134 crore. Similarly, Maldives last year was allocated Rs 360 crore while this year it will receive Rs 400 crore, an increment of Rs 40 crore. The countries that witnessed a fall in its allocation are Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Mauritius, and Seychelles.
Nepal received an allocation of Rs 750 crore last year while this year Indian aid stood at Rs 500 crore. Similarly, Sri Lanka which will get Rs 150 crore this year received Rs 200 crore last year while the aid for Bangladesh for this year stood at Rs 200 crore, which was the same in 2022. Indian support for Mauritius stood at Rs 460 crore versus Rs 900 crore last year and for Seychelles, it stood at Rs 10 cr from the previous year's announcement of Rs 14.06 crore.
