Seychelles President Patrick Harminie started off a five-day visit to India, at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on February 5, 2026. Being the first visit conducted by President Harminie since assuming office in October 2025, the visit also coincides with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between India and Seychelles. It not only exemplifies India’s strategic interest in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) but also signifies sternness from India towards its engagement with Africa.
Seychelles and Its Relevance for India
The extent of influence exercised by small island developing states (SIDS)—and small states more broadly—on the global stage remains a key
question in world politics. Given that the influence of small states varies across geopolitical and geoeconomic contexts, it is reasonable to assume that they exert pressure on international politics through diverse forms of leverage. Against this backdrop, the smallest nation of Africa, Seychelles, is looking to bargain its strategic location in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) to gain international agency. With the broadening geopolitical divide, opting for strategic autonomy has become the ‘new norm’. Under such a sensitive climate, Seychelles has shown agency in relation to the great power competition by opting for its
‘friends to all’ hedging approach.
The
116-island nation, located 1,350 to 1,800 kilometers from the East African coast, in the western part of the Indian Ocean, is positioned in a geopolitically and strategically significant location. This is because, in recent times, India extended the Security and Growth for All in the Region (Sagar) initiative to Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security Across the Regions (Mahasagar) and launched the maiden initiatives of IOS Sagar and Africa India Key Maritime Engagement (AIKEYME) in 2025. Seychelles’ location places it along the arc of these strategic frameworks and holds tremendous significance for India as well.
India Visit
President Harminie kick-started the visit to India with a welcome by State Minister Madhivendhan and top officials of the State Government in
Chennai. During his visit, President Herminie is also
set to meet the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, hold discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on bilateral, regional, and international issues of mutual interest, and meet the state governors of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
There is an anticipation that the visit will enhance maritime cooperation between India and Seychelles. India shares an elaborate architecture of defence and security cooperation with Seychelles, and the cooperation has significantly deepened over the years to counter the growing cases of piracy in the IOR. India has been
engaging consistently with Seychelles on maritime cooperation, and the engagement has observed 10 editions of the India-Seychelles biennial joint military exercise ‘LAMITYE, and visits by INS Sharda and INS Trishul in 2023, INS Sunayna in 2023 and 2024, and INS Tir (First Training Squadron of the Indian Navy) in 2024. These visits and joint exercises were complemented by six coastal surveillance radar systems gifted and installed by India in 2015 and the handing over of Fast Patrol Vessel SCG PS Zoroaster in 2021.
Given India’s deepening engagement in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), enhanced maritime cooperation with Seychelles appears increasingly likely. As the Indian Ocean is the
second-largest tuna-producing region globally, strengthened cooperation to counter Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing can be an effective prospect. This would further build up India’s stature in maintaining the regional security while also assisting Seychelles to better its IUU fishing risk index, thereby further safeguarding its borders. Currently, Seychelles’ IUU score stands at
2.32, with 1 being the best (lowest risk) and 5 being the worst (highest risk).
Furthermore, strengthening partnership in the blue economy can also be anticipated as a probable outcome of the visit. Both India, through the
‘Draft Blue Economy policy’, and Seychelles, through the launch of the world’s first
Blue Bond, have implemented various Blue Economy principles into their national development strategies. Considering Seychelles’ advancements in the sector of the blue economy, India has the opportunity to play a bigger part in maritime governance. Cooperation in the development of sustainable technology through innovation can nourish the various aspects of the blue economy, like maritime logistics, ports and shipping, and human capacity development.
Beyond these considerations, a key diplomatic issue likely to be deliberated during the visit is that of Assumption Island (also known as Assomption Island). Assumption Island is a tiny and remote 7 km-long island, located 1,100 km southwest of Seychelles. Despite its size, the island is of immense strategic significance, as it lies along a key route linking the Indian Ocean with the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
Moreover, the island lies close to the busy commercial shipping lanes carrying manufactured goods and materials from East Asia to Africa. This has rendered the island a focal point of geopolitical competition, with China, the United States, and India advancing competing interests in establishing a military presence. In March 2015, India leveraged its strong relations with Seychelles and signed an agreement on the Development of Facilities, and a revised agreement was signed in November 2018. With the 2018 agreement being signed, it was anticipated that Assumption Island will soon become a joint military base between India and Seychelles.
Considering Assumption Island is near the Unesco-listed Aldabra atoll, which constitutes a refuge of over 400 endemic species and subspecies and has one of the most pristine and fragile ecosystems in the world, the people of Seychelles prefer keeping geopolitics away from the island. Public opposition to development on the island has been pronounced, as evidenced by the mass demonstrations against the construction of a 40-villa luxury resort by the Qatari Assets Group.
For India, a presence on the strategic island is critical, as it monitors the Mozambique Channel and can effectively aid India in countering China’s expanding footprint in the region. Hence, this visit is expected to encompass various other cooperations and extensions of development assistance.
The tensions surrounding Assumption Island highlight a larger structural reality about Seychelles’ position in contemporary geopolitics. The contest between environmental preservation, domestic public sentiment, and external strategic interests amplifies how small island states are not merely passive arenas of great-power competition but active negotiators of it. Decisions regarding security partnerships, infrastructure, and access are filtered through sovereignty concerns, ecological vulnerability, and political legitimacy.
Conclusion
Situated near
key sea lanes and encompassing a vast Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), Seychelles serves as a critical hub for monitoring maritime traffic, addressing non-traditional security threats such as piracy, and supporting freedom of navigation in the Indian Ocean Region.
For India, hence, Seychelles functions as an important node for monitoring maritime traffic, addressing non-traditional security challenges such as piracy, and supporting freedom of navigation across the region. Owing to these attributes, it emerges as a strategic lynchpin in India’s efforts to sustain its role as a “Preferred Security Partner” and “First Responder” in the Indian Ocean Region.
(The author is an independent researcher on African issues. Views expressed are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.)
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