*DELHI: 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 theSeychelles by India’s prime minister Narendra Modi, but progress since hasbeen slow.

The government of the Seychelles, based in Victoria on Mahe Island 1,135kilometres northeast of Assumption, says the base will help coastguards topatrol its 1.3 million square kilometre exclusive economic zone for illegalfishing, drug trafficking and piracy.

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 above sea level and is covered in bird excrement.

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

*Small island, big investment *

India plans to invest $550 million in building the base to help it ensurethe safety of its vessels in the southern Indian Ocean. It also says thebase 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 helptrain Seychelles ‘ 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 Ally, the Seychelles’attorney general.

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.

*Weekly protests*

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 theSeychelles, 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 World Heritage Site that is home to the world’s largestpopulation of giant tortoises.

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.

With the opposition, like the government, broadly in favour of the base,though against too many concessions to India , the diplomat’s optimism maybe well-founded.

“I think politicians and people who see the positive side of thiscooperation will be in favour, and I am convinced that it will pass,” hesaid. – APP/AFP