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The President of the Republic of Seychelles, James Alix Michel, will undertake a three-day visit of India from June 1 to June 3. This will be his second visit to India.He had earlier visited India in 2005. Briefing the media about the visit, the government''s official spokesman, Vishnu Prakash, described Seychelles as a fellow Commonwealth country and also as an Indian Ocean Rim state. He said that India and Seychelles enjoy close, friendly and cooperative ties that have been underlined by "very good mutual understanding and cooperation which has been growing over the years." Mr. Prakash further said that as a preparatory to the visit, a number of new initiatives were being considered, which would now be operationalised, including a school library project, supply of buses, technology development centre in Seychelles for small and medium enterprises, human resource development. He also said that India has been cooperating closely with Seychelles, assisting them in training, including of diplomats. "India has been extending wholesome support and cooperation to Seychelles, including in development of infrastructure and enhancing its security capabilities. In fact, security and defence cooperation is one of the important aspects of our engagement which extends to assistance in training, supply of defence hardware and so on. I would like to particularly note that an IT centre at the request of the Government of Seychelles, is being set up at the cost of Rs.4 crore which would be operationalised soon," Prakash said. "Seychelles has also put the Pan-African E-Network to very good use, effectively utilizing the tele-medicine and tele-education facilities which connect them to designated Indian super-specialty hospitals and universities. They are also utilizing close to two dozen ITEC training slots annually," he added. Prakash said there is a lot of goodwill for India in Seychelles. "Close to ten per cent of the population in Seychelles is of Indian origin. Their currency is called Seychelles Rupee. We are also exploring now possibilities to enhance our synergies. A business delegation from Seychelles is accompanying the President to precisely do so," he said.

Seychelles President to visit India