NEW DELHI — India will give financial assistance of $1.4 billion to the Maldives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday, the biggest aid yet to the Indian Ocean island nation that is grappling with debt from a Chinese building spree.

Modi made the announcement after talks with Maldives’ new President, Mohamed Ibrahim Solih, who defeated the pro-China strongman Abdulla Yameen in a surprise election result in October and is trying to reset ties with India.

During a five-year construction boom in the Maldives, China built a sea bridge connecting the capital, Male, to the main airport and is developing the airport itself, as well as building housing on land reclaimed from the sea.

But the fast-paced building activity has stoked fears that the Maldives has loaded up on debt that could be anything from $1.5 billion to more than $3 billion.

Solih’s administration has said it is trying to find out just how much the country of 400,000 people owes China.

Modi said India stood ready to help the Maldives as a close friend and neighbor.

“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,” he said during a brief media appearance with Solih.

Both India and China have been trying to build regional influence in the Maldives and other Indian Ocean countries such as Sri Lanka which lie along vital shipping lanes.

Soon after he took over last month, Solih said state coffers had been looted over the past few years and warned that the country was in financial difficulty after racking up debt with Chinese lenders.

Solih said the Maldives and India had signed agreements to cooperate on trade, health and defense. India would help improve Maldives’ security through joint patrols as well as aerial surveillance, officials said.

India’s big worry has been that China’s expansive diplomacy in the region was aimed at securing an outpost on an island in the Maldives.

The package of financial assistance is in the form of budgetary support, currency swap agreements and credit lines, Modi said, after what he called “successful talks” to build upon the two countries’ “deep-rooted” friendship.

“We want greater trade ties with Maldives. There are increasing opportunities for Indian companies in the island nation. This is beneficial for both the countries,” Modi said.

“Our security interests are interlinked. We will not allow our countries to be used for harmful activities against each other,” he said.

China has also loaned billions to other countries around the Indian Ocean and beyond, stoking fears of a debt trap and riling both India — which has traditionally held sway in the region — and the United States.

Solih’s party has called for a review of the projects bankrolled by China in the strategically placed Indian Ocean country.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed, now Solih’s mentor, has accused China of a land grab and condemned a free-trade agreement signed by Beijing and Yameen as one-sided.

Nasheed said in a recent interview that it would be “very difficult” for the Maldives to repay its Chinese debt, which he said was estimated to be at least $3 billion.

But China’s ambassador told the local Avas.mv website last month that only about half of the Maldives’ external debt pile of $1.2 billion was owed to Beijing.

Zhang Lizhong said the loans carried just a two-percent interest rate and a five-year grace period.

“We have nothing to gain if a friendly country falls into debt,” he said. “There is no single (piece of) evidence to support the so-called debt trap claim.” — Agencies