New Delhi: India on June 28 indicated it remained open to reviving the long-stalled Assumption Island project in Seychelles if the island nation’s government wished to revisit it, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first recipient of a presidential award instituted only days before his arrival for a state visit.Asked whether Assumption Island figured in discussions between the two sides, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the issue had not been raised during the visit but stressed that New Delhi would be receptive if Victoria sought to revive cooperation.“We have not specifically spoken about this during the ongoing visit, but it is something that we would be open to hearing about should the government of Seychelles raise this matter,” Misri told reporters in Victoria after the bilateral talks.He stressed that any project India undertakes abroad is guided by the priorities and interests of the host government. “Any project that we undertake in Seychelles, or for that matter any foreign country, is ultimately guided by the priorities and the interests of the host government,” Misri said.India’s top diplomat added that development, security and defence cooperation must also align with “the interests and priorities of the government of Seychelles and the people of Seychelles.”A contentious projectIn 2015, during Modi’s first visit to the island nation, India and Seychelles signed an agreement to jointly develop military infrastructure on Assumption Island, a sparsely populated island located about 1,100 kilometres southwest of Mahé and strategically situated near key shipping lanes in the western Indian Ocean. The agreement was revised in 2018 after concerns raised in Seychelles, with both governments insisting that the facility would remain under Seychellois ownership and command and would primarily strengthen the island nation’s coast guard capabilities.However, the project became one of the most contentious political issues in Seychelles. Opposition parties, civil society groups and environmental activists argued that it would effectively create an Indian military base, undermine the country’s sovereignty and damage the ecologically sensitive island. A day before the agreement was to be placed in Seychelles parliament, the text was leaked online.The political backlash eventually led then President Danny Faure to acknowledge that the revised agreement would not secure parliamentary ratification, effectively shelving the project.Since then, India has continued to expand maritime cooperation with Seychelles through less sensitive initiatives, including gifting patrol vessels and aircraft, refitting coast guard assets, hydrographic surveys, capacity building and training for the Seychelles Defence Forces.When Herminie visited India in February, the two sides instead announced cooperation on a Seychelles Coast Guard base as part of a broader maritime partnership. Speaking after his return to Victoria, Herminie stressed that there had been no discussions on leasing Assumption Island to India for a military base, an issue that had become politically fraught under his predecessor.The island has nevertheless remained at the centre of domestic debate. Herminie’s government subsequently set up a Commission of Inquiry into the lease of Assumption Island for a proposed Qatari-backed luxury tourism project, with the panel submitting its findings on Saturday.Cabinet approved presidential distinction to Modi just four days before ceremonyThe Indian leader’s reciprocal visit saw President Herminie confer on Modi the newly created presidential distinction, “Guardian of the Blue Horizon,” making him its inaugural recipient.The honour was approved by the Seychelles cabinet only on June 24, four days before the award ceremony, as a special presidential distinction.However, the citation presented during the ceremony also drew criticism online after users pointed to apparent spelling and typographical errors on both the certificate and the accompanying seal. Fact-checker Mohammed Zubair highlighted that the Latin motto on the seal read “OPUS” rather than “OPVS”, while “Republic” and “Seychelles” appeared to be misspelled as “Repubblic” and “Seycheeles” on another seal in the document. Separately, OpenAI’s image verification tool detected an OpenAI SynthID watermark in the publicly circulated image of the citation, indicating that the image was generated using OpenAI’s image-generation tools.Indian officials said Modi was honoured for his “green leadership”, promotion of the Blue Economy, climate action and support for Small Island Developing States.Earlier this year, he became the first recipient of Israel’s Knesset Medal and had earlier been the inaugural recipient of the Kotler Award for Global Leadership. The visit coincided with Seychelles’ Golden Jubilee celebrations marking 50 years of independence. Modi attended the National Day parade as a guest of honour, alongside other invited foreign leaders including Mauritian Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam and African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.During bilateral talks, the two countries reviewed implementation of the $175 million Special Economic Package announced during President Herminie’s visit to India in February this year. The package comprises $125 million in concessional financing and $50 million in grant assistance for projects in sectors including social housing, transport, education, healthcare, food security and maritime security.India also announced and handed over a range of assistance during the visit, including a fast patrol vessel for the Seychelles Defence Forces, 10 utility vehicles, five laser radial boats, six ambulances, 500 metric tonnes of rice and 8,500 metric tonnes of cement.The two sides signed nine agreements covering digital payments, healthcare, agriculture, extradition, shipping, space cooperation, capacity building and a Rs 1,250 crore umbrella line of credit. Modi also addressed the Seychelles National Assembly, where he described the Indian Ocean as a shared home linking the two countries and called for transforming it into an “Ocean of Opportunity”.Misri also disclosed that President Herminie had sought New Delhi’s assistance in providing an Advanced Light Helicopter and in establishing cybersecurity and artificial intelligence centres in Seychelles, proposals that India responded to “with a very positive frame of mind.”