PM Modi's Three-Nation Tour To Give Fillip To Maritime Diplomacy

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi sets off on Tuesday on a five-day official visit to the three key Indian Ocean island neighbours - the Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka - in a bid to ramp up India's profile in the crucial maritime region amid China's looming presence.

In the Seychelles - his first stop - Modi is set to be accorded a unique Gujarati-style welcome from the Gujarati NRIs living in the island country, located 1,500 km east of southeast Africa.

Banners welcoming Modi have been put up along the road from the airport to a venue set up to felicitate him. The Seychelles has a population of around 10,000 Gujarati NRIs, including 5,000 from Kutch district, according to Desh Gujarat.

Modi will hold discussions with Seychelles President James Alexis Michel to strengthen maritime ties and enhance bilateral development cooperation. Three agreements are to be inked between the Seychelles and India during the visit.

India's bilateral cooperation with the Seychelles is mainly in the field of health, education, defence and maritime security.

India recently gave a patrol ship to the Seychelles for its Coast Guard to better patrol the country's extensive Exclusive Economic Zone.

Both sides are likely to ink an agreement to strengthen the energy sector of the Seychelles, an Indian Ocean archipelago of 90,000 people.
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