New Delhi: India signalled its intention to step up cooperation in the Western Indian Ocean Monday, announcing a $175 million special economic package for Seychelles, as well as looking to deepen maritime and defence cooperation, as it continues to compete with China for influence in the region.
The announcement of a special economic package for Seychelles followed India’s increased development partnership with countries in the region, including Mauritius and the Comoros, in recent years, as Beijing’s footprint has expanded significantly in the region.
“Development partnership has been a 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 announcing a $175 million Special Economic Package. This package will support concrete projects in areas such as social housing, e-mobility, vocational training, health, defence, and maritime security,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a joint press statement with the President of Seychelles, Patrick Herminie.
Modi added, “Defence cooperation and maritime security are important pillars of our partnership. We welcome Seychelles as a full member of the Colombo Security Conclave. This will strengthen our mutual coordination and bolster efforts to ensure peace and stability in the Indian Ocean.”
Patrick Herminie assumed his presidency in the African archipelago in October 2025 and is on his first State visit to India. The six-day visit has so far included interactions in Chennai and Mumbai before he arrived in New Delhi. The Seychellois President will interact with the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, before visiting Agra Tuesday, following which he is scheduled to depart.
The archipelagic country sits on an important maritime route in the western Indian Ocean and has long been a key partner for New Delhi in the region. Over the last couple of decades, Beijing has also made major inroads in the region.
China sent $144 million in aid to Victoria between 2000 and 2023, according to AidData, a research laboratory of the College of William and Mary in the United States.
China’s financial lending to Seychelles has been a mix of grants and loans, with one of its largest financial grants, at $18 million,for the construction of 24 housing units, as part of the Les Mamelles, which features the historic 1864 lighthouse (Phare des Mamelles) and the 52-metre-tall African Renaissance Monument, back in 2011. Over the years, China has also sent grants for other social housing projects across the island.
India’s latest announcement, coupled with the memorandum of understanding related to ocean observation, ocean services, capacity building, data sharing, and the conduct of maritime research—signed Monday— adds a layer to New Delhi’s approach to the region.
Beijing has been willing to invest in Seychellois housing projects, education, communication, transportation, storage, and other government and civil society projects, in addition to offering general support to the country.
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A growing relationship
Victoria is a key partner to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean Region, handling prosecutions against captured pirates. It has been able to effectively combat piracy and other crimes on the high seas, making it an important partner for India in the region.
Apart from the MoU on ocean observation, the two countries announced agreements in pharmacopoeial cooperation, meteorological collaboration, cultural exchanges, digital technologies, capacity building, and food procurement.
Modi has also been invited as the ‘guest of honour’ for Seychelles’s 50th Independence Day celebrations in June this year, by Patrick Herminie.
Victoria, on 20 November last year, became the sixth country to join the Colombo Security Conclave—the NSA-level regional organisation that includes India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Bangladesh, and the Maldives. It acceded to the CSC during the seventh NSA-level meeting hosted in New Delhi.
The focus of the CSC is on regional security and maritime cooperation. It evolved from the NSA-level trilateral meetings among India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives in 2011.
The CSC trilateral meetings were paused between 2014 and 2020 after ties between India and the Maldives cratered.
In 2020, Mauritius was added as a member country for discussions, before the CSC expanded to include Bangladesh and, now, Seychelles.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)