During PM Modi's state visit, India and Seychelles discussed greater connectivity and a USD 175 million special economic package. The aid will cover priority sectors like social housing, green mobility, and maritime security, says Vikram Misri.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that greater connectivity between the two countries was discussed between the two sides alongwith special economic package of USD 175 million that India pledged to Seychelles. Misri, while addressing the special briefing on the state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Seychelles, said that they discussed about social housing, green mobility, etc.
Greater Connectivity a Priority
"So on the question of shipping and aviation links, I would only say that greater connectivity between the two countries is certainly something that was a subject of discussion between the two sides today. Naturally, when it comes to establishing dedicated shipping lines or dedicated aviation links, these are naturally decisions that are in the hands of private commercial operators," he said.
"So while the two countries certainly recognize the importance of these links, we've undertaken to have a discussion with the concerned actors, whether it is in the shipping industry or in the aviation industry, and ask them to look at the possibilities that might be there for setting up these links. But certainly connectivity is a major priority, and we would certainly like to take that forward and see as much progress as possible in those areas," he added.
USD 175 Million Economic Package
He further said that the special assistance will cover projects in priority sectors in Seychelles, priorities that will be decided by the government of Seychelles. "On development cooperation, I think I provided considerable amount of detail on everything that was done during this visit and what we also agreed during the visit of President Patrick Herminie to India in February this year. There are already, as you are probably aware, we have a special economic package of US dollar 175 million that we've announced that includes 125 million dollar of concessional financial assistance, the agreement for which was signed and exchanged today in the presence of the two leaders and there is also a portion of that special economic package which is completely grant assistance which is 50 million dollars and all of these will cover projects in priority sectors in Seychelles, priorities that will be decided by the government of Seychelles," he said.
"I would imagine, and I have some familiarity from previous discussions between the two sides, that these priorities include the areas of social housing, for instance, green mobility, maritime security, education, healthcare, digital public infrastructure, capacity building, and people-to-people exchanges," he added.
New Avenues for Cooperation
Misri said that there were more ideas for cooperation presented like cyber security, AI and aviation. "And as I mentioned in my earlier remarks, today there were a few new ideas that were presented, for instance, in the form of cooperation on cyber security, setting up cyber security facilities and setting up artificial intelligence related facilities, as well as the provision of certain aviation platforms. So we will take all of these projects forward in the development cooperation space," he said.
Stance on Assumption Island Project
Talking about Assumption Island, Misri said that India's stance on these kinds of projects is ultimately guided by the priorities and the interests of the host government and the authorities in the host country. "This [Assumption Island] is something on which, you know, there has been discussion quite a long time ago. I just want to clarify what India's stance on these kinds of projects is, which is that any project that we undertake in Seychelles or for that matter any foreign country is ultimately guided by the priorities and the interests of the host government and the authorities in the host country. And we are firm believers in the principle that any kind of cooperation, development cooperation, security related cooperation or defense cooperation, must ultimately be aligned with the interests and desires of the people of the country. In this case, it must be aligned with the interests and priorities of the government of Seychelles and the people of Seychelles," he said.
A Relationship Based on Trust and Friendship
Misri said that such relationships like India and Seychelles are not transactional. These are relationships based on respect, based on trust, and based on friendship. "So we have not specifically spoken about this during the ongoing visit but it is something that we would be open to hearing about should the government of Seychelles raise this matter. I do understand that there are some ideas that the authorities here have about what to do and if they feel that these are areas in which we can assist them we would be very happy to do so. On the, yes, you had a question about expectations from Seychelles. Look, we are in a relationship like this. These are not transactional relationships. These are relationships based on respect, based on trust, and based on friendship. And if you were to really press me hard and ask me what do I expect, I would say friendship," he said. (ANI)
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