President of the Seychelles, Wavel Ramkalawan, and his wife First Lady Linda Ramkalawan, were in Maldives on a state visit from 11-14 June at the invitation of Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. The two presidents have met previously, in 2019 when President Solih visited the Seychelles and have previously interacted at several international forums—the most recent being the United Nations Conference of LDCs held in Doha in March 2023. However, this was the first time a Seychelles’ head of state was undertaking an official visit to Maldives. Accompanying the President and First Lady was a high-level delegation including Sylvestre Radegonde, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism.
Maldives and Seychelles established diplomatic relations in July of 1980. Being Small Island Developing States (SIDS), slowly recovering from the adverse impact of the global pandemic, they share many common challenges. Further, being geostrategically situated in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) they also share many common interests. Following the talks held by the two presidents,
a press statement reiterated “the shared commitment of the two countries to take their relationship to new heights, as neighbours in the Indian Ocean, sharing similar historical, socio-economic, and cultural values and bonds” and “their desire to work together towards elevating their bilateral relations to a strategic partnership.”
Being Small Island Developing States (SIDS), slowly recovering from the adverse impact of the global pandemic, they share many common challenges.
Given India’s desire to shape the security architecture evolving in the IOR and to undertake a more proactive role in its neighbourhood by engaging its smaller island neighbours, it is worth paying attention to the partnerships developing in this region. To ask, for Maldives and Seychelles—what are their common interests and in what ways do their most pressing concerns converge?
Climate change: An existential threat
Unsurprisingly, climate change remains the primary and most urgent risk to both countries. Maldives being one of the most low-lying nations in the world has repeatedly emphasised that for them climate change is an “existential threat.”
Shauna Aminath, Maldivian Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Technology, explains “There’s no higher ground we can run to. It’s just us, the islands, and the sea. Eighty percent of our islands are less than a meter above sea level. Fifty percent of all our housing structures are within just 100 meters of the coastline. Really, everything is at stake.” Seychelles, too, faces serious climate change-related threats, such as flooding, storms, and landslides.
The
‘Loss and Damage Fund’ for climate impact in developing countries, therefore, for Maldives and Seychelles was both a vital and hard-won deal at COP27. For the first time, developed countries have agreed to provide for poorer and more vulnerable countries, acknowledging explicitly the inequities of climate change.
An initial pledge of US$300 has been made. However, this is only the first step. The difficult part is the actual setting up of the Fund which will involve numerous decisions on its institutional arrangements and governance. As Aminath points out, there is an urgent need for frontline states in the climate crisis to have
easier access to financial funds. Both Presidents have promised to
“enhance collaboration” and to work together “to ensure that the hard-won Loss and Damage Fund is operationalised at COP28.”
Developed countries have agreed to provide for poorer and more vulnerable countries, acknowledging explicitly the inequities of climate change.
Tourism: An Overreliance on the EU market
The importance of tourism for SIDS cannot be overstated. Tourism, in most cases, is the main economic activity, in terms of creating jobs, generating income and earning foreign exchange. For SIDS, it is also one of the few industries in which their location, climate, coastlines, beaches and distinctive cultural resources give them a strong competitive global advantage.
Both Maldives’ and Seychelles’ tourism industries have recovered well after the pandemic. The Maldives’
economy has recovered to pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and, with rising tourist arrivals, is expected to maintain a strong growth and poverty reduction trajectory. Similarly,
by the end of 2022 Seychelles' tourism industry recovered by 90 percent since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine, however, has had an impact on tourism. Sherin Francis, Principal Secretary of Tourism, points out, “
We lost our Ukraine market—that at the time was occupying the fourth place in terms of our tourism arrival—and a large portion of the Russian market—that was in the first place.” Currently, for the Seychelles, the top five markets are France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, and Italy. However, these countries too are experiencing high inflation, supply disruptions, and spiking energy prices.
Economists seem to agree that these countries are sliding into a recession. In addition,
according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the price of jet fuel has increased by nearly 150 percent in the last year. Amidst these uncertainties, an overreliance on the European and Russian markets is not advantageous. Looking to boost regional and domestic tourism,
Maldives and Seychelles have signed an agreement on mutual exemption of visa requirements. In addition to the visa waiver, Maldives and Seychelles also signed an air services agreement. Both countries have agreed to further collaborate in this field through the regular exchange of experience between the tourism sectors, both at the working level and the level of experts and through vocational training.
The Maldives’ economy has recovered to pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and, with rising tourist arrivals, is expected to maintain a strong growth and poverty reduction trajectory.
Blue Economy: Regional and global cooperation is crucial
Both leaders agreed
“to collaborate closely in the areas of blue economy and marine conservation and to jointly promote blue economy initiatives at the international fora.” For Maldives and Seychelles, their economic development is almost entirely based on their oceans, seas, and coastal areas. Tourism and fisheries being the main economic activities, it is crucial that they can promote economic growth in a way that is sustainable, equitable, encompassing coastal management and protecting their fragile ecosystems.
The main prongs of the blue economy are growth, social inclusion, and conservation and they have to work together. Promoting growth that doesn’t impact the actual lives of the people is not sustainable. Similarly, growth that endangers ocean health and wildlife is not desirable. These three prongs not only have to work together, but they also have to work across sectors—tourism, fisheries, technology, and finance. These sectors have to further work across borders. Both global and regional cooperation is crucial for blue economy initiatives to work. The UN has pointed out that
“governments, organizations and decision-makers need to join forces to ensure that their policies won’t undermine each other.”
Tourism and fisheries being the main economic activities, it is crucial that they can promote economic growth in a way that is sustainable, equitable, encompassing coastal management and protecting their fragile ecosystems.
Seychelles has been at the forefront of innovative sustainable financing solutions having issued a 10-year blue bond to finance fisheries projects, making it the world’s first country to utilise capital markets for funding the sustainable use of marine resources.
The bond was officially issued on 9 October 2018 and its sales have so far raised 15 million dollars from three institutional investors—Calvert Impact Capital, Nuveen, and Prudential. Maldives and Seychelles have much scope to collaborate in this area as their interests very much align.
Maritime security
Ramkalawan and Solih “
reaffirmed their firm commitment to the security of the Indian Ocean Region and agreed to work closely together to enhance cooperation in the field of maritime security.” Maritime Security includes addressing counterterrorism, Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, counter-piracy, combatting drug trafficking, and so on. The two leaders agreed to work together both bilaterally as well as multilaterally, mentioning “,
especially within the context of the Indian Ocean Rim Association” (IORA) and other multilateral avenues such as the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS).
Typically, a strategic partnership develops when two nations go beyond simply maintaining bilateral equations and decide to cooperate and work together in dealing with a challenging situation. Inherent in such partnerships is the mutual acknowledgement that working together makes it easier for each to succeed in their goals, and crucially that their goals largely converge. Given the unpredictability of post-pandemic recovery, a looming global recession and an increasingly volatile IOR where several big powers are jostling for influence, working together makes SIDS more formidable. Looking at Maldives’ and Seychelles’ political economies, it is clear that both their immediate concerns and long-term visions strikingly converge. Elevating their bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership is a logical step forward. As India reimagines its maritime vision for IOR and looks to improve maritime ties with its island neighbours, it must pay attention and take note of these convergent interests.
Vinitha Revi is an Independent Scholar associated with the Observer Research Foundation
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