Seychelles parliament blocks planned Indian naval base on remote island

June 22, 2018 20:26

Seychelles parliament will not ratify a pact allowing India to build naval facilities on one of the archipelagos islands, a top foreign affairs ministry official said on Friday.

The two countries signed an agreement in January to build military facilities on the remote island of Assumption, but the project quickly attracted criticism from opposition members of the tiny Indian Ocean nations parliament and lead to public protests.

Opposition lawmakers had argued that allowing India access to Assumption, which is near a busy shipping route, would be surrendering territory to another country and joint management of the facility with India undermined the 115-island nations sovereignty.

The government will not present the agreement to the National Assembly (parliament) for approval because opposition members (who are the majority) have already said they will not ratify it, Seychelles Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Barry Faure said.

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