Kumar Utkarsh
Kumar Utkarsh is a journalist, technology observer, and cricket enthusiast with over three years of experience in the media industry. Currently serving as a Sub-Editor at India Dot Com English, he cov ... Read More
India announced a fresh economic package of $175 million (approximately ₹1,457 crore) for Seychelles on Monday, just days before the country celebrates five decades of diplomatic ties with India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the economic package after holding talks with Seychelles President Patrick Herminie. “Conveyed greetings of goodwill from Indians to Seychelles’ people as they mark 50 years of bilateral relations with India,” Modi tweeted.
The special assistance package that PM Modi announced will further “India’s partnership with Seychelles in support of national priority projects,” the PMO tweeted. “Part of this assistance will be in grant aid; the rest as a line of credit for projects that promote economic growth and create jobs for Seychelles’ people,” PM Modi tweeted. Modi also said that the countries will continue working together to support people-centric projects and capacity-building in sectors of national priority for Seychelles.
The Indian PM said that the special economic assistance package would focus on development projects that impact Seychelles’ people positively, especially its youth. The areas of focus for the new credit line were also tweeted by the PMO. They include:
“A new chapter in our cooperation with Seychelles as we support its development priorities. Real impact for Seychelles’ people, especially youth,” Modi tweeted.
India and Seychelles signed a Joint Vision document on Sustainability, Economic Growth and Security through Enhanced Linkages (SESEL) during Herminie’s visit to New Delhi. The two countries share common stakes in addressing global challenges such as climate action, climate change, renewable energy and sustainable financing among others.
In their vision statement, both countries agreed to deepen cooperation on investments, digital connectivity, tourism infrastructure and people to people ties among other sectors.
“A focus on maritime domain during PM Modi’s talks with Seychelles President Patrick Herminie underlines our convergence on a free, open and stable Indian Ocean Region (IOR). We are maritime neighbours and strong partners in maritime security,” foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said in a tweet.
In light of growing geopolitical tensions in IOR, both leaders agreed to enhance collaboration between India and Seychelles in maritime domain awareness and surveillance, capacity-building, joint training and intelligence-sharing to counter terror threats, illegal fishing, piracy and trafficking of narcotics among other areas.
In addition to announcing the economic package and signing the SESEL vision document, the two countries signed several MoUs on digital public infrastructure, capacity building for civil services personnel, cooperation in traditional medicine and cultural exchanges.
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