India-Seychelles Celebrate 50 Years of Diplomatic Ties, VP Meets Speaker Ernesta

Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan on Thursday met a parliamentary delegation from Seychelles led by National Assembly Speaker Azarel Ernesta at Parliament House in New Delhi, underlining the close and longstanding ties between the two countries.

Welcoming Ernesta and members of the delegation, Radhakrishnan conveyed greetings to the government and people of Seychelles on the country’s 50th anniversary of Independence. He also congratulated Ernesta on becoming the first woman Speaker of the Seychelles National Assembly.

The Vice-President recalled his visit to Seychelles in October 2025 to attend the swearing-in ceremony of President Patrick Herminie, describing it as his first overseas visit after assuming office. He also remembered the warmth and hospitality extended by the people of the island nation.

Highlighting the momentum in bilateral relations, Radhakrishnan noted that 2026 marks 50 years of diplomatic relations between India and Seychelles. He pointed to several high-level engagements during the year, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s participation in Seychelles’ 50th National Day celebrations in June and President Herminie’s State Visit to India in February.

He also recalled India’s announcement in February of a USD 175 million Special Economic Package for Seychelles, aimed at strengthening the countries’ development and security partnership.

During the meeting, Radhakrishnan outlined India’s efforts to modernise and digitise parliamentary functioning. These include paperless proceedings, multilingual simultaneous translation, digital archives and cybersecurity capacity-building. He offered to share India’s experience with the Seychelles National Assembly through study visits and customised training programmes.

The Vice-President also highlighted the role of the Indian diaspora in Seychelles, particularly the Gujarati and Tamil communities, in strengthening people-to-people ties.

Radhakrishnan noted Ernesta’s interest in Yoga, describing it as another symbol of the close cultural and people-to-people relationship between India and Seychelles.