India’s Vice-President met a parliamentary delegation from Seychelles on September 3, 2026, at Parliament House in New Delhi. The visiting team was led by Ms. Azarel Ernesta, Speaker of Seychelles’ National Assembly. The meeting highlighted growing ties between the two island nations, which are marking 50 years of diplomatic relations this year.
What happened at the meeting
The Vice-President welcomed the Seychelles delegation and extended greetings to their government and people on the occasion of Seychelles’ 50th Independence anniversary. He congratulated Ms. Ernesta on becoming the first woman Speaker of the Seychelles National Assembly and acknowledged her attendance at the 28th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth, held in New Delhi in January 2026.
The Vice-President recalled his visit to Seychelles in October 2025 for the swearing-in of President Dr. Patrick Herminie, describing it as his first overseas trip in that capacity. He noted that 2026 has been a particularly significant year for bilateral relations, with India’s Prime Minister attending Seychelles’ 50th National Day celebrations in June, and President Herminie making a State Visit to India in February. Vice-President Sebastien Pillay also visited India in February to attend the AI Impact Summit.
A key announcement mentioned was India’s Special Economic Package of USD 175 million for Seychelles announced in February 2026, intended to deepen development and security cooperation.
The Vice-President outlined initiatives by India’s Rajya Sabha aimed at modernising parliamentary functions, including digitisation of proceedings, multilingual translation, paperless operations, and cyber security training. He offered to share these experiences with Seychelles and proposed study visits and tailored capacity building programmes for the Seychelles National Assembly.
The discussion also touched on people-to-people connections, with the Vice-President acknowledging the role of Indian communities in Seychelles, particularly Gujarati and Tamil populations, in strengthening ties between the nations. He noted that yoga serves as a symbol of close relations between the two countries.
What this means for you
If you work in parliamentary administration or government institutions, India may soon offer training programmes in digital modernisation and parliamentary procedures based on this engagement. For those with family or business connections to Seychelles, this deepening relationship signals strengthened bilateral cooperation. The USD 175 million economic package will likely expand development projects and create opportunities for Indian involvement in Seychelles’ growth initiatives.