VICTORIA: A plan for India to build a military base on anoutlying Seychelles island has won favour among the archipelago nation’spoliticians, but some hostility from its people.

The base on Assumption Island is to be funded by India and shared by thetwo countries’ militaries.

The deal was struck in principle in 2015 during a visit to the Seychellesby India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modilink>, but progresssince has been slow.

The government of the Seychelles, based in Victoria on Mahe Island 1,135kilometres (705 miles) northeast of Assumption, says the base will helpcoastguards to patrol its 1.3 million square kilometre (500,000 squaremile) exclusive economic zone for illegal fishing, drug trafficking andpiracy.

Currently, the remote coral island has a tin shack post office, an airstrip and almost no people, it is less than seven kilometres long, has ahigh point just 30 metres (100 feet) above sea level and is covered in birdexcrement.

But its location lends it strategic importance for monitoring shipping inthe Mozambique Channel.

India plans to invest $550 million dollars (446 million euros) in buildingthe base to help it ensure the safety of its vessels in the southern IndianOcean link>. It also saysthe base will be a resource for other shipping nations.

“Assumption is very close to the Mozambique Channel where much of theinternational trade is transiting, and not just for India but for othercountries as well, and our interest is that our trading vessels are safe,”said India’s ambassador in Victoria, Ausaf Sayeed.

India has had a military cooperation agreement with the Seychelles since2003 and the deal would give it use of the Assumption base for up to 30years. Indian soldiers would be deployed on the island and help trainSeychelles’ troops.

But ratification of the 2015 agreement has been slow with a new, amendedpact only signed between the two countries on January 27.

“What we did in relation to the first agreement is to clarify some pointsthat could give rise to litigation,” said Frank Allylink>, the Seychelles’ attorneygeneral.

He said these included a prohibition on any nuclear uses of the island orweapons storage. India is also not allowed to use Assumption in war.

Seeking to allay fears the government has made available to the public somedetails of the classified defence agreement.

Nevertheless, the project remains controversial with small weeklydemonstrations in the capital.

Indian presence in the Seychelles is a sensitive matter. Some fear aninflux of Indian workers who, they say, might come to dominate the economy,while others consider a foreign power building a military base an affrontto sovereignty and national pride.

“The Seychelles can make its own military base, I am against any foreignmilitary presence!” said Guilmert Corgat, a businessman in Victoria whoattended a town hall meeting on the plan in late February.

“If this deal is so good for the Seychelles, why don’t we hold areferendum?” asked Alexia Amesbury, a lawyer.

During the discussions foreign minister Barry Faure was forced to insistthe government was not giving the island away, “because Assumption belongsto the Seychelles”.

Opponents of the plan also cite Assumption’s relative proximity to Aldabraatoll, a UNESCO link> WorldHeritage Site that is home to the world’s largest population of gianttortoises.

Environmentalists worry about the possible impact of a large militarypresence so close to an ecosystem that has survived precisely because ofthe absence of people.

Despite the dissenting voices, Sayeed remains positive that parliament willratify the new agreement when it reopens this month.