New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Friday on his arrival in Seychelles, met Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan.
“Conveyed the greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and handed over a personal message”, EAM said in a tweet.
"Discussed our close security cooperation, strong development partnership and long-standing people to people contact. Assured him that Seychelles had a particular priority, both under Neighbourhood First Policy and SAGAR outlook,” he added.
Jaishankar is the first to arrive for an “in-person" visit to the country since the start of the covid-19 pandemic put embargos on travel. Seychelles has made an exception in the case of the Indian minister allowing the visit to take place.
The main aim of the trip is to “understand President Ramkalawan’s development priorities to strengthen bilateral cooperation."
Ramkalawan, a former Anglican priest, defeated incumbent Danny Faure after three decades of unsuccessful runs for the presidency of the East African nation, a report said.
It was with Danny Faure’s government that India signed a pact to develop the naval facility on Assumption Island for use by both countries. The plan included the construction of an airstrip and a jetty besides housing infrastructure, all built through an investment of $ 550 million by India.
But opposition from Ramkalawan and his Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) stalled the project for which an initial pact was signed during PM Modi’s 2015 visit to Seychelles.
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It is worth noting that in recent years, India has tried to broad-base its relationship through its development cooperation and assistance in the form of grants and concessional loans. India currently supports three of five National Priority projects in Seychelles announced during the visit of the President of Seychelles Danny Faure to India in June 2018.
The three projects are a new Government House (for $ 63.66 million), police headquarters (for $ 13.92 million) and the Attorney General’s office (for $13.38 million) and are currently being implemented. A magistrate court building project is also under construction in Seychelles for which India has extended a cash grant of $ 3.5 million in June 2017. The project began in September 2018 and the construction has been completed in October 2020.
Jaishankar arrived at Seychelles after his two-day visit to UAE on November 25-26. It was the second leg on his six days three-nation tours to Bahrain, UAE and Seychelles, which began on Tuesday.
