External Affairs Minister (EAM) Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met his Seychelles counterpart Barry Faure on the sidelines of 9th Indian Ocean Conference in Mauritius on Friday, expressing New Delhi's commitment to supporting Victoria in meeting current economic challenges.
"Great meeting FM Barry Faure of Seychelles on the sidelines of 9th Indian Ocean Conference. India is committed to supporting Seychelles in meeting current economic challenges. Welcomed the steps in implementing the Special Economic Package," EAM Jaishankar posted on X.
EAM Jaishankar is on an official visit to Mauritius, where he is attending the 9th Indian Ocean Conference and also holding discussions with counterparts from other participating nations. He is also meeting Mauritius leadership to review the entire spectrum of bilateral ties.
On Tuesday, India sent a consignment of 250 metric tonnes of food grains to Seychelles, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced while adding that New Delhi will be sending more assistance to the country as part of its USD 175 million Special Economic Package.
"A consignment of 250 MT foodgrains sent to Seychelles. More to follow under the USD 175 million Special Economic Package committed to Seychelles," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X. In February, during his State Visit to India, Seychelles President Patrick Herminie had acknowledged New Delhi's support for the development, security needs and aspirations of the archipelagic island nation through Lines of Credit (LoCs), grants, capacity building and High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP).
Herminie met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on February 9 and the two leaders held discussions covering entire spectrum of bilateral relations, agreeing to also work closely in digital transformation. Noting the need for Seychelles to digitise governance for the benefit of its people, India agreed to make efforts on the buildout of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), including digital payments, as per the needs and requirements of Seychelles.
According to the 'Joint Vision for Sustainability, Economic Growth and Security through Enhanced Linkages' (SESEL) adopted by both countries, PM Modi reaffirmed India's commitment to remaining a reliable partner in national development agenda of Seychelles, with a focus on sustainability, defence, maritime security, capacity building, resilience and inclusive growth.
"Reaffirming their commitment to work closely to expand and intensify the people-centric development partnership between the two countries, India announced a ‘Special Economic Package’ of USD 175 million, which will include a blended financial assistance of USD 125 million in Rupee-denominated Line of Credit and USD 50 million in Grant assistance for development cooperation projects, capacity building for civilians and defence officials, maritime security, etc," the statement detailed.