However, India’s partnership with Mauritius and Seychelles often does not make headlines, even though it has contributed to India’s profile as a net security provider in the western and southern Indian Ocean Region. The recent visit by the Seychelles President to India, for instance, is testimony to the value that the country places on New Delhi. 

India-Seychelles Ties

India and Seychelles have an elaborate architecture of defence and security cooperation, which has deepened over the years, amid the growing piracy threats and other economic offences in the strategic Indian Ocean region.

In fact, maritime security and defence constitute a key and time-tested pillar of the bilateral partnership between Seychelles and India. Seychelles is an important maritime partner in India’s vision of MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions), and the Indian Prime Minister has reiterated India’s continued support and assistance to Seychelles in meeting its maritime security and defence requirements.

Seychelles is also committed to ensuring a free, open, safe and secure Indian Ocean Region, underpinned by respect for international law, freedom of navigation, and a rules-based maritime order. India and Seychelles have decided to closely counteract maritime challenges such as piracy, smuggling of narcotics, and human trafficking, besides illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, and other transnational crimes, including those with linkages to organised crime and terrorism financing.

Maritime Security

Strengthened ties between the countries can reinforce peace, security, and stability in the Indian Ocean Region through enhanced maritime domain awareness, information sharing, capacity building, and coordinated operational management.

India has given support to Seychelles for joint maritime surveillance, hydrography surveys, bilateral exercises, information-sharing, and capacity building for the Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF). India gifted and installed six coastal surveillance radar systems in Seychelles in 2015, enabling better coastal security for Seychelles.

India's Partnership With Mauritius

Equally significant is India’s robust defence and security partnership with Mauritius. In fact, Mauritius is one of the very few countries that has withstood Chinese pressure and maintained wide-ranging ties with India. Mauritius has also been sceptical of efforts by the West (the US, tacitly) to increase its presence in the region. 

Mauritius was one of the handful of important countries with which India established diplomatic relations in 1948, even before the independence of Mauritius. India has also stood by Mauritius on the Chagos sovereignty issue. 

India-Mauritius defence relations are deeply strategic, focusing on maritime security, capacity building, and maritime domain awareness in the Indian Ocean region. India acts as a primary security partner, supplying patrol vessels, aircraft, and radar systems to the Mauritian Coast Guard, while also providing training and joint patrolling. India helps secure Mauritius's vast exclusive economic zone (EEZ) against piracy and illegal fishing. India has helped develop surveillance infrastructure, including the coastal surveillance radar (CSR) system. Mauritius is a major beneficiary of India’s ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation) programme for defence training. India has also committed to providing expertise in marine operations and port security, while supporting customised training initiatives for the Mauritius Police Force.

Maritime Cooperation

Last year, India and Mauritius decided to enhance maritime cooperation through increased deployment of ships and aircraft, further secure Mauritius’ EEZ using the newly built Agalega runway and jetty, and assist in setting up a National Maritime Information Sharing Centre to bolster maritime domain awareness. 

The India-Mauritius partnership has been characterised by a high level of trust and mutual understanding at the leadership level and continued high-level political engagement. These special ties have resulted in a close cooperation in maritime security, development partnership, capacity building, cooperation in international fora, and technical assistance through the deputation of Indian experts to Mauritius.  

The close ties are especially evident in the numerous India-assisted development projects that dot the Mauritian landscape. The enduring cultural and people-to-people ties between India and Mauritius are nurtured by the Indian Cultural Centre in Mauritius (India’s biggest in the world), the World Hindi Secretariat, a bilateral organisation for the global promotion of Hindi, the Mahatma Gandhi Institute (set up with Indian assistance to promote the study of Indian culture, languages and Indology), as well as over a hundred Mauritian socio-cultural organisations that preserve and promote Indian heritage and culture in Mauritius.

Sustained ties of India with Mauritius and Seychelles can not only strengthen maritime and defence security in the Indian Ocean region, but also bolster cultural exchange, promoting people-to-people ties.

(The writer is a commentator on geopolitics. Views are personal.)