Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has activated a donated
maritime surveillance radar system in the Seychelles and promised to donate
another Do 228 surveillance aircraft to the island nation during a visit there
last week.
On 11 March Modi launched the Coastal Surveillance Radar station located on a
mountainous central region of the main island of Mahé, describing it as another
symbol of the cooperation between the two countries, reports the Seychelles
News Agency.
In early 2012 India and the Seychelles signed several agreements related to
maritime security in the Indian Ocean, including a pact for the supply of a
coastal surveillance radar system worth $10 million (140 million rupees), and
Dornier surveillance aircraft.
During his visit last week, Modi also announced that a second Dornier
surveillance aircraft would be donated to the Seychelles Coast Guard to
increase maritime security. The first Dornier Do 228 was given to the
Seychelles in early 2013.
“Our security partnership is strong. It has enabled us to fulfil our shared
responsibility to advance maritime security in the region,” said Modi. “It is a
privilege to be a partner of Seychelles in the development of its security
capabilities.”
He added that the radar system is part of a regional surveillance network being
installed in several Indian Ocean island states and hoped the Seychelles would
become a full partner in the maritime security cooperation arrangement between
India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
India has had bilateral relations with the Seychelles since it gained
independence in 1976, especially in the fields of health, education and
defence. In November last year India donated a second 46 metre SDB Mk 5 patrol
boat to the Seychelles, the PS Constant, nine years after donating the PS Topaz
(formerly INS Tarmugli) in 2005.
INS Tarasa is an SDB Mk 5 patrol boat built by India's state-owned Garden Reach
Shipbuilders & Engineers in Kolkata and refurbished by the Naval Dockyard
Mumbai. She has a displacement of 319 tons, a maximum speed of 28 knots and a
complement of 24.
The Seychelles Coast Guard fleet further expanded in April 2014 when China
donated the 38 metre Etoile patrol boat, built specifically for the Seychelles.
The new vessels join the Topaz, Andromache, La Fleche and Le Vigilant (the
latter two donated by the UAE). China previously donated two Y-12 aircraft for
maritime surveillance.
