India Builds Indian Ocean Partnerships as Seychelles President Visits New Delhi Following PM Modi’s Malaysia Talks
Visiting President of Patrick Herminie held wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday, February 9, resulting in the adoption of an expansive India–Seychelles Joint Vision and the announcement of a $175 million special economic package aimed at deepening cooperation across development finance, digital transformation, maritime security and climate resilience.
The engagement came a day after Modi returned from an official visit to Malaysia, where he held high-level talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and jointly underscored a hardened position against terrorism, including cross-border terrorism, alongside expanded defence, trade and digital cooperation.
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| Image Source: PM NaMo |
The document sets out a comprehensive roadmap for cooperation spanning development assistance, digital public infrastructure, healthcare, renewable energy, capacity building, defence and maritime security in the Western Indian Ocean.
Prime Minister Modi announced a special economic package of $175 million, combining grant assistance and rupee-denominated lines of credit, to support projects in social housing, e-mobility, vocational training, health, defence and maritime security, reaffirming India’s role as a long-term and people-centric development partner for Seychelles.
The two leaders placed particular emphasis on maritime security and the blue economy, with Modi reiterating Seychelles’ strategic importance to India’s MAHASAGAR vision and welcoming its full membership of the Colombo Security Conclave.
They agreed to strengthen cooperation in maritime domain awareness, hydrography, joint surveillance, information sharing and customised training for the Seychelles Defence Forces. Collaboration in renewable energy, climate adaptation and disaster-resilient infrastructure was also highlighted, alongside commitments to expand digital governance through India’s Digital Public Infrastructure, enhance access to affordable medicines, and deepen people-to-people exchanges in education, tourism and skills development.
These developments followed Modi’s return on Sunday from Malaysia, where he and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim issued a joint statement “unequivocally and strongly” condemning terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, and called for zero tolerance and sustained international cooperation to combat radicalisation, terror financing and the misuse of emerging technologies for violent extremism. The two sides agreed to deepen intelligence sharing, capacity building and coordination under regional and multilateral security frameworks.
Defence and security cooperation featured prominently in the India–Malaysia talks, with both leaders expressing satisfaction over the outcomes of the Malaysia-India Defence Cooperation Committee and its sub-mechanisms, including collaboration related to Malaysia’s Sukhoi Su-30 fighter fleet.
India offered support for upgrades and maintenance, citing its decades-long experience operating the platform, while both sides welcomed closer maritime security and counter-terrorism coordination under the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus framework, where India and Malaysia are co-chairing the Counter-Terrorism Working Group for the 2024–2027 term.
Trade and economic ties were also reviewed during the Malaysia visit, with bilateral trade estimated at about $19.5 billion in the 2024–25 financial year. The leaders discussed the ongoing review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement, acknowledging that while trade volumes have grown significantly since its inception, the balance has tilted sharply against India.
They agreed that the review should aim to make the agreement more balanced, trade-facilitative and aligned with current global trading realities, while encouraging fuller utilisation of the Malaysia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement.
Digital cooperation emerged as another shared priority in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, with both sides welcoming the formalisation of the Malaysia-India Digital Council to advance collaboration in artificial intelligence, fintech, cybersecurity and e-governance.
Progress on linking India’s NPCI International payments platform with Malaysia’s PayNet was noted as a step towards facilitating seamless, low-cost cross-border transactions, pending technical and regulatory alignments.
Taken together, the engagements in New Delhi on Monday and in Malaysia over the weekend underscored India’s parallel diplomatic tracks across the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia, with development partnerships, counter-terrorism coordination, digital connectivity, trade recalibration and maritime security forming the core of New Delhi’s evolving regional strategy.