Seychelles warns West Asia war disrupting key maritime routes and air links

Seychelles' Foreign Minister Barry Faure has warned that the escalating war in West Asia is already disrupting vital maritime routes and air connectivity, posing risks to the Indian Ocean island nation's economy and supplies. In an interview with WION's Sidhant Sibal, Faure said the conflict had direct effects: "Seychelles has been impacted already by the war. The maritime routes have been affected. The air connectivity has been impacted."

He stressed resilience through partnerships: "Fortunately, we have other possibilities of getting our supplies, fuel, food and other commodities. Fortunately, we have friends like India as well. We have strong partnerships with our neighbours, with Mauritius as well." Seychelles has set up an economic monitoring group informing the Cabinet, adopting a multi-stakeholder approach with private sector and civil society involvement for early action.

Full interview

WION: How is Seychelles getting impacted by the war in West Asia?
Barry Faure: Seychelles has been impacted already by the war. The maritime routes have been affected. The air connectivity has been impacted. Fortunately, we have other possibilities of getting our supplies, fuel, food and other commodities. Fortunately, we have friends from India as well. We have strong partnerships with our neighbors, with Mauritius as well. I've just been having a meeting with the foreign minister of Mauritius, and we've been talking about how we can work together to mitigate the impact that this crisis is having already, and we're concerned that if it continues, it could have more serious impact on our countries if we do not take measures right now. Already, in Seychelles, we established a framework that enables the Cabinet of ministers to be informed by an economic monitoring group, what is happening on a regular basis, and we are involving the whole of society. We take a multi stakeholder approach, with the private sector and with civil society, in monitoring what is happening, so that we can take an informed decision as early as possible to prevent any further impact that this crisis may have on the country.

With respect to the crisis itself, we would like, all parties involved in it to put their arms down and to talk because. This is what we need right now. We need dialog. We need peace, not war.

WION: So we saw this incident in which an Iranian ship was shot down off the coast of Sri Lanka in the international waters. What's your view? It's an Indian Ocean region, your crucial part of the Indian Ocean? How much of a worry is it?
Barry Faure: Yes, it is of concern. It is important that there is peace in our region. We advocate for that, we ask all parties to choose peace over war.

WION: How do you see Seychelles-India ties in the context of your President's recent visit?
Barry Faure: It's one of the best visits ever, I think that has been done by a head of state, and that was the first visit of our head of state, since he was elected in October last year, which shows the importance of this relationship, which is a strategic partnership relationship between India and Seychelles, there were some important announcements which were made, and I can assure you that these are not just declarations that we are moving to full implementation. Prime Minister Modi will be visiting Seychelles in June to celebrate the 50th anniversary since our independence and since the establishment of diplomatic relations, which again, is a strong indicator of the level of the relationship between our two countries.