NewKerala.com

India & Seychelles Boost Maritime Ties, Blue Economy at Mumbai Roundtable

India and Seychelles convened a business roundtable in Mumbai to deepen bilateral cooperation, led by Seychelles President Patrick Herminie and Indian Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Discussions focused on enhancing partnerships in maritime trade, ports, logistics, and the blue economy, aligning with India's MAHASAGAR vision. The meeting also explored collaboration in renewable energy, skills development, and leveraging historical people-to-people connections. Parallel healthcare talks aimed at strengthening Seychelles' medical services through infrastructure and specialist outreach.

Key Points: India-Seychelles Business Roundtable Focuses on Maritime Trade

  • Strengthening maritime trade & ports logistics
  • Expanding blue economy & renewable energy cooperation
  • Leveraging historical & cultural people-to-people ties
  • Exploring healthcare collaboration & infrastructure development
2 min read

Indo-Seychelles Business Roundtable in Mumbai focuses on maritime trade, blue economy, and sustainable development

Seychelles President and Indian Minister lead talks on enhancing maritime trade, blue economy, and sustainable development cooperation in Mumbai.

"Discussions centered on enhancing trade, investment and people-to-people ties between India and Seychelles. - Randhir Jaiswal"

Mumbai, February 7

India and Seychelles are strengthening ties, with a focus on maritime trade, the blue economy, and sustainable development.

Seychelles President Dr Patrick Herminie and Minister Sarbananda Sonowal led discussions at the India-Seychelles Business Roundtable in Mumbai, exploring investment and cooperation opportunities.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in a post on X, wrote, "President of Seychelles, Patrick Herminie engaged with business leaders at the India-Seychelles Business Roundtable, joined by Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal @sarbanandsonwal. Discussions centered on enhancing trade, investment and people-to-people ties between India and Seychelles."

Key areas of focus for maritime trade include enhancing partnerships in ports and logistics, strengthening collaboration in renewable energy and skills development, and leveraging historical connections and cultural exchanges through people-to-people ties.

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways of India on its official X account wrote, "India and Seychelles explored avenues to deepen cooperation in maritime trade, blue economy and sustainable development at an Indo-Seychelles Business Roundtable held in Mumbai, attended by H.E. Dr. Patrick Herminie, President of Seychelles, and Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Hon'ble Minister for Ports, Shipping & Waterways. The meeting saw participation from numerous business entities in India active in the infrastructure, ports, fisheries, health, education, fintech and automobile sectors."

The meeting highlighted India's MAHASAGAR vision, aligning with Seychelles' priorities in the Indian Ocean Region.

"The growing maritime partnership under the MAHASAGAR vision underscored shared priorities across ports, logistics, blue economy, renewable energy and skills, strengthening strategic convergence in the Indian Ocean Region. Union Minister also highlighted that India-Seychelles ties are rooted in history and enduring people-to-people connections, with maritime exchanges dating back well before modern diplomacy," the post stated further.

Earlier in the day, President of Seychelles Patrick Herminie and Marvin Nolan Fanny, Minister of Health, Seychelles, met Ravi Pachamuthu, Chairman, SIMS Hospital, to discuss a collaborative roadmap aimed at strengthening healthcare services in Seychelles through sustainable and long-term healthcare solutions such as super-specialty medical outreach, hospital infrastructure development, digital health integration, workforce support, affordable medicines, and dialysis expansion.

A team of specialists from SIMS Hospital is to travel to Mauritius and Seychelles next week to evaluate the existing healthcare systems in Seychelles and assess the way forward in coordination with the Ministry of Health.

- ANI

Share this article:

Reader Comments

P
Priya S
Great to see cooperation extending beyond just trade to healthcare and skills development. Sending our medical specialists to help improve their systems is true friendship. Hope this leads to more educational exchanges for students as well.
R
Rohit P
MAHASAGAR vision is the need of the hour. With China's growing presence in the Indian Ocean, we must deepen our partnerships with littoral states like Seychelles. Port and logistics collaboration is key for our exports.
S
Sarah B
As someone working in renewable energy, I'm particularly excited about the collaboration mentioned in that sector. India has great solar/wind tech that can benefit island nations vulnerable to climate change. Win-win.
K
Karthik V
Good initiative, but I hope the benefits are mutual and transparent. Sometimes these high-level roundtables don't translate to ground-level job creation or opportunities for small Indian businesses. The focus should be on practical outcomes.
N
Nisha Z
The historical and people-to-people connections are our biggest strength. Many Indians have family links to East Africa and islands like Seychelles. Building on that cultural foundation makes the partnership more enduring than just business deals.

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.

Leave a Comment

Minimum 50 characters 0/50