India helps Maldives with £400m package

India has announced a financial package of almost £400million for the Maldives as New Delhi tries to mitigate growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean region.

The money will pay for bridges and causeway links to connect the island of Malé with three outlier islands.

The Maldives owes Beijing around £1billion after its former president, Abdulla Yameen, accepted a series of soft loans from China to embark on development projects.