Domestic Resistance Blocks the Seychelles Military Agreement With India

Seychelles’s Opposition has rejected the agreement to be passed through their Parliament. The move comes after two months as Indian signed a revised agreement with the Indian Ocean archipelago nation for the building of military facilities there.

The Opposition having its leader Wavel john Charles Ramkalawan and other ruling party members told President of Seychelles’ that they will support the passage of agreement “in its present form”, according to a news report. Faure acknowledged the Oppostion’s stance over the agreement and said that he will not present it to the National Assembly in April, as was scheduled, the report said.

“It is not proper for me to send the agreement to the Speaker when the Leader of the Opposition, who is in majority in the Assembly, has signalled he will not ratify it,” Faure said. Refuting the perception that the agreement helped create an Indian military base on the island, saying it was actually a “Seychelles Coast Guard facility”.

The island nation, Seychelles, is leased to India to operate a naval base and air strip by the Indian Navy. The agreement was signed on 28 January between Former foreign secretary S Jaishankar and Seychelles secretary of state Barry Faure.

“Relations with countries in the Indian Ocean Region and nurturing a climate of peace and stability are important cornerstones of India’s foreign policy,” Jaishankar had said, adding, that India seeks a future for Indian Ocean that lives up to the name of SAGAR — an acronym for ‘Security And Growth for All in the Region’.

The deal was set during a visit by Prime Minister to Seychelles in the year 2015, but the progress was very slow.

The government of Seychelles, which functions from Vitoria on Mahe Island 1,135 kilometres northeast of Asssumption, thinks that the base will help coastguards to keep vigilance over 1.3 million square kilometres exclusive of economic zone for illegal fishing, drug trafficking and piracy.

As of now, the remote coral island has a small post office, a single airstrip and almost without people. The area is less than seven kilometers long with a high point of 30 meters above sea level and is covered with bird excrement. But the location makes it a strategic point to monitor shipping in the Mozambique Channel.

India is planning to invest a whopping USD550 million to build a military base to help it ensure the safety of its vessels in the southern Indian Ocean. It also hopes that the base will become a resource for other shipping nations. “Assumption is very close to the Mozambique Channel where much of the international trade is transiting, and not just for India but for other countries as well, and our interest is that our trading vessels are safe,” India’s ambassador in Victoria, Ausaf Sayeed, said.

India had made a military cooperation agreement with the government of Seychelles since the year 2003 and the deal would allow India to use it for upto 30 years. Indian troops will be deployed there and Seychelles troops will be given training.