Modi announces $1.4 billion financial aid to Maldives

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will provide a financial assistance of $1.4 billion to the Maldives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday during a press conference with the visiting president of the South Asian archipelago.

"For Maldives' social and economic development we are providing a financial assistance of $1.4 billion in the form of budgetary support, currency swap agreements and concessional lines of credit," Modi said.

Mohammed Ibrahim Solih, who won a surprise election in September, is try to reset ties with regional power India after the previous president drew the Maldives closer to China.

(Reporting by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)