Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hand over a ‘Fast Petrol Vessel’ to the Seychelles Coast Guard on Thursday. The handing over will be part of a high-level virtual interaction between the Indian leader and the President of Seychelles, Wavel Ramkalawan.
This is the first interaction between the two leaders since Mr. Ramkalawan won the October 2020 elections in Seychelles. The African archipelago nation has been a steady part of India’s policy for the Indian Ocean region and Mr. Modi visited the country in 2015. India gifted similar vessels to the Seychelles in 2005, 2014 and 2016.
During the event, the leaders will inaugurate a 1 MW solar power plant, and the Magistrates’ Court building project in Mahe, the largest island in the archipelago. The Magistrates’ Court will help Seychelles in centralising the legal and administrative processes that are spread over different regions of the nation.
The Fast Petrol Vessel ‘PS Zoroaster’ will help Seychelles in carrying out anti-piracy operations. The vessel, built by the Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineering Limited, was delivered to Seychelles on March 16 and will be dedicated to the Seychelles Coast Guard by Prime Minister Modi during the virtual interaction.
The virtual interaction comes weeks after India gifted 50,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine to Seychelles.
