The first India Day celebration, an extravaganza of culture, tourism and business, a joint collaborative effort between the High Commission of India in Seychelles and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Seychelles with the support of the local Indian community, Indian organizations and local business community, has been scheduled for 4-6 October 2013 at Victoria in Seychelles.

 Local Indian Community

It is a well-known fact that the Persons of Indian Origin who have settled in Seychelles since the very beginning of the history of the nation itself, have been very much a part of the fabric, bonhomie and development of the country of 115 amazingly beautiful islands nestled in the Indian Ocean near the coast of Africa on the eastern side of the Continent.

These PIOs form an important link between India and Seychelles. Subsequently, there have been waves of migration from India, mostly from Tamil Nadu and of late from Gujarat. They have come in as petty traders, construction workers and more recently as professionals.

The local Indian community has done fairly well especially in the economic field. Nearly 90% of retailing business is done by PIOs of Tamil origin. Again local construction industry is mostly dominated by the PIOs of Gujarati origin. Large construction companies owned by them employ thousands of construction workers from India. In the Government set up also, a number of PIOs have risen to high position. There are also Indian experts in schools, hospitals, hotels, banks, financial set-ups, parastatal bodies, legal set-up and Government Ministries. Together they constitute more than 10% of the total population.

The local Indian community have formed their own cultural and religious associations including Indian Association of Seychelles, Hindu Council of Seychelles, Indo-Seychelles Friendship Association, Tamil Kovil Sangam, Tamil Social & Cultural Development Centre and Tamil Manram. The Indian community, who are mostly second and third generation Indians have continued to nourish cultural, linguistic and religious linkages with India. There are regular celebrations of various important Indian festivals including Holi, Diwali, Pongal, etc. These events have formed to be part of the local tourism attraction events for international communities. All these Indian cultural expression/events notwithstanding, there has been a need to encourage the enthusiasm among the PIOs for continued cultural linkages with India.

Strategic Location

Seychelles is a small country in terms of land area with a 1.3 million square kms of EEZ. It is located in the central part of the Indian Ocean with many important and potentially important trade routes lying within its EEZ. It is a well-placed country which has traditionally attracted the attention of the global powers for strategic reasons. Seychelles recently has been active regionally as well as internationally, mostly in the context of anti-piracy operations, regional tourism promotions, climate change issues, blue economy, etc. In these contexts, the country has become a sort of regional hub for air transport and international conferences.

Similarly, the location of this small island nation Seychelles, and its pristine natural beauty have attracted travellers from around the world, especially from Europe and increasingly now from India, China and other such Asian countries. The same factors have attracted hospitality industries, marine resource companies, local & international airlines, environment friendly technology companies, etc. to set up operations in Seychelles.

India and Seychelles

The cordial relations between the two countries have been exhibited by many high level exchanges of visits from both sides. President Pratibha Patil visited in 2012. In the past, President R. Venkataraman, Vice Presidents Shankar Dayal Sharma and Bhairon Singh Sekhawat, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and Defence Minister AK Antony have so far visited Seychelles. From Seychelles both Presidents Rene and James Michel, and Foreign Minister Jean Paul Adam have visited India many times. These visits have strengthened the multifaceted cooperation of the two countries in the fields of education, culture, health, tourism, business, defence & security, finance, ICT, etc.

Trade & Investment

Though the economic and commercial cooperation at the moment is small, there exists significant scope for cooperation in this field. There is interest on both sides to increase economic and commercial cooperation. During the visit of President Patil in April/May 2012, more than 50 Indian corporate leaders from the ASSOCHAM, CII and FICCI visited Seychelles and had interactions with captains of businesses in Seychelles. In fact, the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has institutional arrangements for business promotion with some of our premier chambers such as CII and FICCI.

At the moment Seychelles’ main items of import from India are food items, beverages, cereals, grains, textiles, mineral products, base metals, machinery and mechanical appliances and vehicles and associated transport equipment. The present annual bilateral trade for a little more than US $ 50 million (2012, Seychelles Government source), is on an increasing trend. Direct Indian business presence includes those of Bank of Baroda, Bharti Airtel, and M/s Telecommunications Consultants of India Limited (TCIL).

Tourism & Culture

Culture–Cultural level interactions of India and Seychelles presently are through performances of Indian cultural troupes on a regular basis in Seychelles and vice versa. To strengthen such linkages, an MOU on Youth and Sport Affairs was signed during the visit of President Pratibha Patil in April/May 2012. The MOU encourages, among other issues, exchanges among the young people, and sports interactions.

Tourism – The two countries have agreed to encourage cooperation in tourism sector. From Seychelles, with the gradual decline of tourist arrivals from the traditional market in Europe, Seychelles is looking for new markets. They are now increasingly focusing also on India. Seychelles has participated in tourism fairs in Delhi and Mumbai a few times already. In fact, the Seychelles Tourism Board has appointed M/s Blue Square Consultants, Mumbai as their representative in India since June this year. During the last one year there is a trend of increasing tourism traffic from India. Presently the number of tourists from India is about 4000 per year.

This is not going to be a one-way traffic. Presently, the travellers from Seychelles to India for various purposes is more than a thousand per year. These travellers are for tourism, medical treatment, visiting relatives or as students for higher education courses. Seychelles being an important tourism hub in the region, events happening in the country become known by numerous thousands of visitors easily. As a result, a promotion of India in Seychelles through this India Day will not only be for the local population, but also for the international audience to the tune of about three times the size of Seychelles. Therefore, a tourism and business promotion from our side in Seychelles is going to be an effective way to promote India.

India Day in Seychelles

It is in this reckoning that a need is felt to give the image of nation of India and the community of India in Seychelles a boost by showcasing the best possible talents in an aesthetic manner on a relatively bigger scale. No doubt, Indian community and Indian High Commission have been active in engaging the Seychellois community towards the goal of putting forth our facets.

For the first India Day celebration, though various themes have been identified, the fact of the power of Bollywood, which is celebrating its 100th year was thought as most appropriate to start with. The other sub-themes will be on Indian Cuisine, Music, Dance, fashion shows, and Business. In a nutshell the programme of the INDIA DAY would be a two-and-half-day carnival of a good standing, events like Gala Night (bollywood performance), Indian Food Nights, Talks; Workshops & practicals on Indian Cuisine and the same on Indian Dance, an Exhibition on Indian Journey in Seychelles. Another important part and parcel would be meetings with concerned Government and private-sector entrepreneurs for future ventures in all the above fields. Local Chamber of Commerce and other business organizations and Indian premier chambers such as ASSOCHAM, CII and FICCI have been invited to be part of the events.

GOI Participation

On Seychelles part, the events have blessings of the Government at the highest level. President Michel is expected to attend the formal inauguration of the event on 4 October. Foreign Minister has conveyed full support. Ministry of Tourism & Culture of Seychelles, the main counterpart of the High Commission of India for the event, has been part of the organizing committee.

The local Indian community has shown a great deal of enthusiasm for the event, which is going to be the largest ever India focused event in Seychelles. The expenditure in organizing the events is expected to be about two crore Indian Rupees. Indian local Indian community is doing all it can to generate as many funds as possible.

To boost these efforts, having a support from the Government of India and participation through visits of business/government delegations would prove to be an advantage and India’s standing towards such events. Pertinent to mention, financial contributions and support towards making this event an enviable success will also go a long way in encouraging the humble efforts of the local Indian community. Both Air India Dubai and the Government of India Tourist Office South Africa have been invited to participate in the events as well, welcoming them to showcase themselves in stalls.

This paper is by way of disseminating knowledge & information about our side’s efforts to garner as much resources and mileage as possible. The High Commission of India in Seychelles will remain in touch with all relevant organizations on the progress as India Day concretizes.