India threatens to cut off annual aid

The Maldives said yesterday it would ignore a court ruling staying its decision to kick out Indian infrastructure group GMR, risking a deeper a row with New Delhi, which has threatened to cut off annual aid worth $25 million.
GMR, which won a 25-year contract to manage and upgrade the main international airport in the Maldivian capital under the former government, was given five days to leave the country last week by President Mohammed Waheed's administration.
The privatisation deal has been targeted by Waheed and others in the government over alleged corruption and for patriotic reasons, leading to fury in India, the regional power.
GMR said Monday it had won "injunctive relief" against the decision in the Singapore High Court, where arbitration was being heard, but the Maldivian government said it would ignore the ruling.
The decision to terminate the lease was "non-reversible and non-negotiable", government spokesman Masood Imad told AFP from the capital Male. "We will not accept the (interim) order," he added.
India, whose influence in the Indian Ocean faces competition from China, warned its south-western neighbour on Monday that it might freeze annual aid worth $25 million due in 2013 after a review of the airport decision.