Indian Ocean Outreach

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a three-nation trip which took him to the Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka - three key Indian Ocean island nations.

The Prime Minister indicated a major stepping up of India's military and civilian assistance to the Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka during his visit in an effort to balance China's growing imprint in the region, which has built highways, power plants and seaports in these small island nations. India envisages its role as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean region and towards that end it is providing patrol ships, surveillance radars and ocean mapping for the island states.The visit of the Prime Minister to the nation's maritime neighbours is reflective of India's desire to shore up its profile in the Indian Ocean region, a region long considered India's backyard where New Delhi's influence has been eroding slowly but steadily.

SEYCHELLES:

• India has traditionally been the main defence provider for Seychelles — providing armaments and training to its forces. India extended a $50 million line of credit and $25 million grant to Seychelles in 2012 in an attempt to cement strategic ties. The Indian Navy has been making regular forays into the island nation's surrounding waters.
• During Modi’s visit, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 34 years, India and Seychelles inked four agreements, including on cooperation in hydrography, renewable energy, infrastructure development and sale of navigation charts and electronic navigational charts.

MAURITIUS:

• The Prime Minister was the chief guest at Mauritius’s National Day celebrations. Commissioning a 1300-tonne India-built patrol vessel, Barracuda - India's first-ever export warship -- the Prime Minister said those who live in this region have the primary responsibility for peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
• New Delhi plans to supply 13 more warships to Mauritius in the coming years and has offered $500 million concessional line of credit to Mauritius for key infrastructure projects  

SRI LANKA:

• Modi’s trip to Sri Lanka was the first in 28 years by an Indian Prime Minister
• In a move that risks a diplomatic row with its largest trading partner, Sri Lanka has suspended a $1.5 billion Chinese luxury real estate project in Colombo, the biggest of several Chinese investments in Sri Lankan ports and infrastructure. Though the Sri Lankan government has suggested that the deal lacked transparency and did not meet environmental standards, India too had expressed its concerns about the project.
• During Modi’s visit, the two nations signed four agreements, including ones for exemption from visa for holders of diplomatic passports, cooperation in mutual assistance in customs, a MoU for youth development, and another for establishing a museum dedicated to Rabindranath Tagore. India also offered a fresh line of credit offer of $380 million to Sri Lanka's railway sector.
• India also committed itself to making Trincomalee a petroleum hub with Sri Lanka's state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and the local subsidiary of the Indian Oil Corporation agreeing to develop a strategic oil storage facility in Trincomalee. 
• Modi also became the first Indian Prime Minister and only the second foreign leader after British Premier David Cameron to visit Jaffna in the war-ravaged Northern Province, where he handed over homes built with Indian assistance.

By: Vishal