585 : India and the Seychelles: Controversy over an Island
Jivanta Schoettli
2 July 2018
On 22 June 2018, President Danny Faure of the Seychelles arrived in India for a six-day
state visit. In a press statement welcoming the President, India’s Prime Minister Narendra
Modi announced a US$100 million (S$136.4 million) line of credit to the Seychelles for the
purchase of military hardware from India so as to improve the country’s maritime capacity.
He also stated that they would work together on the Assumption Island project, “keeping in
mind each other’s interest in this regard”.
1 The latter part of the announcement, referring to
India’s role in a stalled project to develop facilities on the island, caught many by surprise. It
marks the latest twist in a story about India’s growing maritime ambition and the
interlocking of domestic and global geopolitics in the Indian Ocean.