President Faure meets Indian foreign secretary |10 October 2017

Indian foreign secretary, Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, is currently on a four-day diplomatic visit to Seychelles to review the relationship between India and Seychelles and look for more opportunities for cooperation.

In that respect Dr Jaishankar paid a courtesy call on President Danny Faure at the State House yesterday afternoon. He was accompanied by the Indian high commissioner to Seychelles Dr Ausaf Sayeed and other members of his delegation.

“The whole idea is to understand the current concerns and priorities of Seychelles so that we can work in partnership,” Dr Jaishankar stated as explanation for his drop-in at State House.

He stated that he and the President touched a lot of aspects concerning the two countries such as the energy and housing needs of Seychelles.

Although his meeting with President Faure was not a single-issue exchange, the defense and security partnership between the two countries was one of the high profile subject matter up for discussion.

According to Dr Jaishankar, discussion revolved around how to enhance cooperation in that regard especially since India and Seychelles share a vast area which is the Indian Ocean.

Hence it is of utmost importance to ensure safety and that order is maintained in this shared ocean, he emphasised.

With regard to the development of an Indian naval base on the island of Assumption -- an agreement which the President, in his last press conference, said will be relooked at -- Dr Jaishankar said he cannot speak for what was said in the press conference but again highlighted that Seychelles and India want to maintain their close military partnership.

“Today we in India believe that our prosperity requires us to share that with others, and we regard Seychelles as a neighbour, one which is separated by some water. It is also in the common interest of the countries in the Indian Ocean today to work to make sure that the Indian Ocean is safe and secure,” he concluded.

During his visit to State House yesterday, Dr Jaishankar also paid a brief courtesy call on Vice-President Vincent Meriton.

The foreign secretary will leave the country tomorrow.