India pledges $175 million fund for Indian Ocean Region neighbour Seychelles

New Delhi: India on Monday announced a $175 million development fund for Seychelles following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's wide-ranging talks with the island nation's President Patrick Herminie.

The two countries also agreed on a broad vision to expand cooperation in areas of sustainability, trade and economy, and security. "India and Seychelles are connected not just by geography, but by history, trust and a shared vision for the future," Modi said in his statement following the summit. The PM mentioned that the development partnership has been the strong foundation of India-Seychelles relations. "All our efforts have been based on Seychelles' priorities and needs. Moving forward in this direction, today we are going to announce a special economic package of $175 million," he noted.

This package will support concrete projects in areas such as social housing, mobility, vocational training, health, defence and maritime security. Herminie is on a six-day visit to India. Both leaders underlined that maritime security and defence constituted a key and time-tested pillar of the bilateral partnership. Modi noted that Seychelles is an important maritime partner in India's vision of 'mahasagar', an acronym for mutual and holistic advancement for security and growth across regions, and reiterated India's continued support and assistance to Seychelles in meeting its maritime security and defence needs.


The leaders reaffirmed that Seychelles and India remain committed to ensuring a free, open, safe and secure Indian Ocean Region, underpinned by respect for international law, freedom of navigation and a rules-based maritime order, according to a joint statement issued after the talks.

They reiterated their resolve to work closely to counteract maritime challenges such as piracy, smuggling of narcotics and human trafficking, illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, and other transnational crimes, including those with linkages to organised crime and terrorism financing.