India's support contributed immensely to development of Seychelles: President Ramkalawan

Appreciating the solidarity shown by India over the years, President of Seychelles Wavel Ramkalawan on Thursday said that the support they have received from India has contributed immensely to the socio-economic development of their country.

"In little less than two months, we will be commemorating the 45th anniversary of the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between Seychelles and India. The support we have received from India has contributed immensely to the socio-economic development of Seychelles," said President Ramkalawan at a high-level virtual event with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Lauding India's support on the COVID-19 vaccine front, President Ramkalawan said Seychelles is nearing its target of achieving 70 per cent of heard immunity by the end of this month due to the precious donation of vaccines by India.

"What better example of Indian solidarity than your spontaneous donation of 50,000 doses of Covishield vaccine. If we are nearing our target of achieving 70 per cent of heard immunity by Apr 2021 and have re-opened our country to business, it is due to this precious donation," he added.

The high-level virtual event saw the joint-inauguration of the New Magistrates' Court Building in Seychelles, new naval ship, one MW solar power plant, 10 HICDPs (High Impact Community Development Projects).

The Magistrates' Court Building project is a landmark project and will help bring magistrate courts spread over different locations in Mahe into a single building. It is situated next to the Supreme Court of Seychelles built by Chinese assistance in 2013.

The vessel that was inaugurated is a 48.9-meter fast-patrol vessel built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineering Ltd. (GRSE), at a cost of Rs 100 crore. The ship will be used for multi-purpose operations such as patrolling, anti-smuggling, anti-poaching and search and rescue (SAR).

The FPV was delivered to Seychelles with the assistance of the Indian Navy on March 16 and was handed over by Prime Minister Modi to the Seychelles Coast Guard during the virtual event. Christened as 'PS Zoroaster', the FPV is the fourth ship to be gifted by India to Seychelles. The other vessels gifted by India include PS Topaz (2005), PS Constant (2014), Patrol Boat Hermes (2016).

These HICDP projects are aimed at implementing small people-oriented projects which contribute significantly towards the socio-economic development and improvement of local communities. Twenty-nine projects have so far been taken up for execution under the MoU.

The one MW solar project is in addition to the installation of solar systems at 146 government building rooftops and domestic households which has already been completed and commissioned.

( With inputs from ANI )