India will discuss greater security and economic cooperation with Seychelles during discussions with its President James Alex Michel who arrived here on Tuesday.
India has been implementing a more intimate security grid with island nations such as the Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles as they have been feeling vulnerable in the absence of maritime domain awareness and adequate firepower.
During talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday, the Seychelles President will discuss greater collaboration with the Indian Navy to overcome the threat of piracy which has badly impacted its economy, Foreign Office spokesperson Vishnu Prakash told journalists.
Seychelles recently repelled two pirate attacks and has suffered a € 8 billion (over Rs. 40,000 crore) impact due to decline in tourism. Besides military hardware, India provides high-level expertise in the form of several specialists from the armed forces doing duty in Seychelles. It also trains officers from Seychelles at its military academies.
Both sides would also look to deepen their economic engagement and India is expected to reiterate its continuing support for developing the island nation's infrastructure.
Seychelles has been facing severe threat from piracy because the concentration of the world's navies around the Gulf of Aden has pushed ship hijacking activity to a wider geographical area.
