India’s Quiet Island Strategy

The Seychelles is rapidly becoming a small but vital hinge in New Delhi’s Indo-Pacific chessboard.

In geopolitics, even tiny island nations acquire immense strategic value by merley sitting astride the world’s most consequential sea lanes. Seychelles, an archipelago of 115 islands scattered across the western Indian Ocean, is one such place. Lying northeast of Madagascar and far from the continental clamour of Africa and Asia, it has emerged as a subtle but significant partner in India’s widening maritime strategy.

Seychelles is best known to tourists, not strategists. Its capital, Victoria, perched on the island of Mahé, serves a country whose economy depends heavily on tourism, fisheries and what policymakers call the ‘blue economy.’

Strategic Relevance

White-sand beaches, UNESCO-listed Aldabra Atoll, and giant tortoises project an image of timeless tranquillity. Yet beneath this postcard calm lies hard strategic relevance. The Indian Ocean’s shipping lanes through which energy, trade and data increasingly flow run close by. Whoever maintains goodwill in such places gains influence disproportionate to population or GDP.

India has understood this for decades. New Delhi’s relationship with Seychelles spans half a century, but it has acquired sharper geopolitical purpose in recent years, as the Indian Ocean becomes a theatre of quiet rivalry. China’s expanding naval footprint, its port projects across Africa and the Indo-Pacific, and its growing interest in island states have concentrated Indian minds. The result has been a renewed courtship of trusted partners.

The recent state visit of Seychelles’ president, Patrick Herminie, marked a turning point in this recalibration. Timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties, the visit went well beyond symbolism. Meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar produced a dense thicket of agreements, assurances and long-term visions.

The most eye-catching announcement was India’s $175m financial package, tied to the adoption of a joint vision for cooperation. India is positioning itself not merely as a benefactor, but as a long-term stakeholder in Seychelles’ development and security. Areas of cooperation range from digital infrastructure and tourism to fisheries, renewable energy and maritime surveillance. India’s experience in digital public goods offers Seychelles a chance to leapfrog administratively without surrendering strategic autonomy.

Unspoken Core

Security, however, remains the unspoken core. Seychelles occupies a key location for monitoring maritime traffic across the western Indian Ocean. India has already supplied patrol aircraft, helped build coastal surveillance radar systems and assisted in capacity-building for maritime law enforcement. These are modest steps compared with the grand bases and ports elsewhere but they suit both partners. Seychelles retains its sovereignty; India gains reassurance.

All this fits neatly within India’s broader MAHASAGAR vision - Prime Minister Modi’s articulation of a “free, open and stable Indo-Pacific” insulated from coercion and great-power overreach. Unlike China’s infrastructure-heavy approach, India’s island diplomacy is deliberately low-key: capacity-building rather than control, partnership rather than patronage. For Seychelles, wary of being drawn into larger rivalries, this restraint is attractive.

Economics reinforces strategy. India and Seychelles are keen to double bilateral trade, modest though it remains. Indian firms are being encouraged to invest in infrastructure, healthcare, renewable energy and port services. During the visit, Seychelles also agreed to join India’s Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and to recognise the Indian Pharmacopoeia by facilitating medicine procurement at lower cost. India, for its part, pledged mobile hospitals, a full-fledged medical facility and emergency food assistance.

Cultural diplomacy has played its part too. People-to-people ties, bolstered by a Seychellois diaspora of Indian origin, have softened the edges of strategic engagement. President Herminie’s visit to Rajghat, paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, was a reminder that symbolism still matters, especially in relationships built on trust rather than treaties.

Protectionism, geopolitical fragmentation and unpredictable American politics have injected uncertainty into global trade and security. In such conditions, even small states matter more than ever. Seychelles’ consistent support for India’s role in the Indian Ocean and India’s steady investment in the archipelago’s stability reflect a shared recognition of this reality.

Can President Herminie’s visit be recorded as a turning point? Probably yes. Not because it transformed the balance of power overnight, but because it confirmed how India’s island strategy is maturing.

(The author is a researcher and expert in foreign affairs. Views personal.)