'UPI will be operational in Seychelles by year-end': MEA

FOreign secretarial assistant Vikram Misri said that UPI scheme testament suit operating(a) by the end of the year in Seychelles.Misri, while addressing the special briefing on the state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Seychelles, said that although the ties between both the nations are not yet comprehensive economic partnership, but they do share a significant substantiative partnership.Also Read| India and Seychelles: A key maritime partnership"On Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC) cooperation, Seychelles is a fairly significant user of, I don't know how many ITEC slots do you have annually? 90, so yeah, there is considerable use of ITEC training in a variety of areas by Seychelles. Timeline for UPI, I believe it will be operational by the end of the year. Yeah, yeah, so the target is to get it operational by the end of the year," he said."Well, the comprehensive economic partnership thing, I can confirm that there have been discussions on this issue. I mean, right now, the bilateral trade is not very large, but it would make sense. I think given the significance of specific economic activities to the economy of Seychelles, I think it would make sense to perhaps explore this idea and we will take it back to authorities in India and try and see what we can do with this. On the designation of the partnership, I don't think there is any formal designation yet, but there is enough in the relationship, especially what has been achieved during the current visit, for it to be regarded as a very, very substantive partnership already," Misri added.Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Seychelles President Patrick Herminie held official talks on Sunday amid the ongoing state visit of PM Modi to the country. The talks covered the full spectrum of bilateral relations, with the leaders agreeing to further strengthen cooperation across key fronts like health, education and capacity building.The Ministry of External Affairs, in an official statement, noted that the leaders discussed strengthening ties across health, education, capacity building, digital transformation, sustainable development, social infrastructure, renewable energy, maritime security and defence. They also exchanged views on regional and global developments, including challenges in the Indian Ocean region, such as illegal fishing, drug trafficking and piracy.Both leaders expressed satisfaction at the progress made in the implementation of projects and initiatives under the Special Economic Package announced by India. Prime Minister reaffirmed India's commitment to supporting the development priorities of Seychelles and to further deepen the close and enduring partnership between the two countries.Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with Bernard Georges, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of Seychelles. In a post on X, he said, "I had a good meeting with the Leader of the Opposition Mr Bernard Georges, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly. We discussed a variety of issues related to the Seychelles-EU partnership. I expressed my gratitude for his warm remarks after my budget address today. It is a pleasure to see that the Seychelles-EU relationship has a solid foundation across all different sectors of society in Seychelles."