Patrick Herminie, Members of the delegations of both countries, Friends from the media.
It is a matter of great honour and joy for me to be conferred with the "Guardian of the Blue Horizon" award, and for the 1.4 billion people of India. I humbly accept this honour and dedicate it to all those countries that are confronting the challenge of climate change and regard environmental conservation as their responsibility towards future generations.
My visit comes at a historic moment, as Seychelles marks the 50th anniversary of its independence, and we also celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Seychelles.
Over these five decades, we have transformed friendship into trust, trust into cooperation, and cooperation into the welfare of our people.
For centuries, the Indian Ocean has nurtured the ties between India and Seychelles. Its waters have continually fostered trade, cultural exchanges, and people-to-people connections between our two nations.
We believe the Indian Ocean is our shared home; its security, sustainability, and prosperity are our shared responsibility. This spirit forms the foundation of our MAHASAGAR Vision.
The Joint Vision issued during His Excellency the President's visit to India in February this year has provided a blueprint for our future partnership. Building on this vision, our cooperation is growing stronger across every sector.
Today, we discussed ways to make our economic cooperation more resilient and future-ready. We will continue to explore new opportunities for the industries of both our countries.
We will also work towards enhancing connectivity between India and Seychelles. This will not only boost our bilateral trade but also strengthen our ties with East Africa and the Indian Ocean region.
Development partnership has long been a defining pillar of our relationship. India has always advanced this partnership by placing Seychelles' priorities, needs, and aspirations at its core.
During His Excellency the President's visit to India, we announced a Special Economic Package of USD 175 million. Under this package, work is underway in areas such as social housing, transport, skilling, food security, education, and defence. Supporting the development of Seychelles' human resources has always been a special priority for India.
I am pleased that we are contributing to the training of Seychelles' civil servants. Today also marks the virtual groundbreaking of the Professional and Technical Centre. We are confident that this Centre will, in the years ahead, elevate the skills, employment opportunities, and self-confidence of Seychelles' youth to new heights.
Our partnership in the field of healthcare has stood the test of time. During the difficult period of the COVID-19 pandemic, we fulfilled our responsibility as a trusted friend by supplying vaccines.
The MoU on Jan Aushadhi signed today will help provide the people of Seychelles with access to quality and affordable medicines. We will continue our efforts to further strengthen Seychelles' medical care through capacity building and training.
