Diplomacy

Indian Ocean Diplomacy: Seychelles-India Connect

- by Manish Chand

Think of Seychelles, and India always looms large in this enchanting archipelago country better known for beauty pageants, honeymooners and luxury holidays. Trade, Training, Technology, Temples and yes, Tata buses and tortoises… These are multiple strands that form the exquisite mosaic of contemporary relations between India and Seychelles, the 115-island archipelago country of haunting beauty. Fittingly, Seychelles forms the first destination of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-nation voyage (March 10-14) to littoral states of the Indian Ocean, which also includes Mauritius and Sri Lanka. It’s an epic diplomatic odyssey as this is the first time an Indian prime minister will be travelling to three littoral countries and underlines the growing salience of the Indian Ocean in India’s diplomatic-strategic matrix and calculations. Prime Minister’s Modi trip will underscore Seychelles’ unique place in this configuration.

There have been many presidential visits from India to this African littoral nation, the last one being President Pratibha Patil’s trip to Seychelles in 2012, but this will be the first prime ministerial visit to this strategically located country after a gap of more than three decades. Mrs Indira Gandhi was the last Indian Prime Minister to visit Victoria in 1981.

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Oceanic Diplomacy: High stakes in Modi’s Indian Ocean yatra

- by Manish Chand

Amid the unfolding great game in the Indian Ocean and China’s increased assertiveness in the region, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads on a three-nation diplomatic odyssey to key littoral states, including Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka.

It’s a first of sorts as the Indian prime minister travels to three oceanic neighbours which are bound to India by history, shared culture and extensive defence ties.

Maritime security will be the overarching theme of Mr Modi’s three-nation visit as he seeks to bolster maritime cooperation with the three countries, which are crucial in India’s strategic scheme to secure sea lanes of communication (SLOC) in the Indian Ocean against attacks by pirates and terrorists.

The prime minister’s outreach to the country’s Indian Ocean neighbours will be closely watched in the region. Beijing will be specially watching the outcomes emerging from these summit meetings as it has relentlessly expanded its economic ties and influence in the Indian Ocean littoral countries New Delhi thinks to be falling in its sphere of influence.

But as Indian diplomats point out, India is not in a containment game, but is only looking to project the Indian Ocean as zone of peace and an ocean of opportunity through a closer web of economic and transport connectivity projects.

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Swaraj in Sri Lanka: Transforming ties and China factor

- by India Writes Network

The ongoing two-day visit of India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is the third bilateral high-level exchange in two months, and underlines a new vitality in multifarious relations between the two neighbours.
India’s foreign minister’s visit is aimed at setting the stage for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to the island nation next week. The visit is the first by any Indian prime minister since Rajiv Gandhi’s trip in 1987. Mr Modi will be on a multi- city tour in Sri Lanka, visiting the Jaffna province as well as addressing the Sri Lankan parliament.
In the days to come, Sri Lanka shall have to do some tightrope walking to keep the investment flowing in from China, while tilting towards India. Amid the shifting geopolitics of the region, one can safely say that the new government in Colombo has begun course correction by underlining the centrality of New Delhi to Colombo’s national interests even as it pursues its economic ties with Beijing, albeit in a possibly attenuated manner.

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