India, Seychelles agree to work together on project to develop naval base

India and Seychelles on Monday agreed to work together on a project to develop a naval base at the Assumption Island keeping each other's concerns in mind after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Danny Faure.

India also announced a USD 100-million credit to Seychelles for augmenting its defence capabilities.

"With this credit, Seychelles will be able to buy defence equipment to boost its maritime capacity," Prime Minister Modi said in his joint media statement with Faure.

On the project to develop a naval facility at the island, which would give India a strategic advantage in the Indian Ocean Region, Modi said, "We have agreed to work together on the Assumption Island project based on each other's rights." Faure, in his remarks, said the Assumption Island project was discussed and the two countries equally engaged to work together bearing each other's interests.

Talks were held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Seychelles President Danny Faure. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also called on the visiting leader and discussed with him expanding bilateral cooperation in key areas, including capacity building and human resource development.

The Seychelles president had landed in Gujarat on Friday as part of his six-day India tour and visited the Sabarmati Ashram on Saturday, where Mahatma Gandhi lived between 1917 and 1930. Faure also visited the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, where he held a meeting with the institute's director Errol D'Souza.

After visiting Ahmedabad and Goa, he arrived in Delhi yesterday and was received by Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar.

There has been growing political opposition in Seychelles to an agreement it signed with India in 2015 to develop a naval facility at the island which would have given New Delhi a strategic advantage in the Indian Ocean Region.