Amit Nayak asked: What is the future of India's political, military and economic clout in the Maldives after the GMR fiasco? Did India loose out something big?

Anand Kumar replies: Though GMR was a private Indian company working in Maldives only to further its corporate interests, but it also symbolised the engagement of Indian business community with the Maldives. Definitely, the GMR fiasco has caused an uncertainty in the bilateral relations. Maldives had also signed a defence agreement with China while the GMR row was still on. Clearly, a much larger game is on and it is not related only to the economics of GMR running the airport in Male. It is bound to impact India’s political, military and economic ties with the Maldives.