Indian Military

India has given to Seychelles a Dornier maritime reconnaissance aircraft for surveillance and anti-piracy missions in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR)that is plagued by piracy threats in and around the Gulf of Aden.

The fixed-wing aircraft will start its surveillance operation in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Seychelles from this week, official sources said. The aircraft was delivered six months after Defense Minister A.K. Antony, on a two-day trip to Seychelles in July, agreed to provide a Dornier and two Chetak helicopters to the archipelago nation.

This was to help the country to carry out aerial surveillance in its EEZ, the sources said.

India has also stepped up the visits of its warships to the region to help in anti-piracy operations against Somali and other mercenary pirates. Seychelles President James Alix Michel was in India for a 2-day visit earlier this month, accompanied by Foreign Minister Jean Paul Adam.

The president met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who, in 2008, announced a $5 million assistance for defence related projects for Seychelles.

The Indian Defense Minister AK Antony, on Monday, agreed to provide three aircraft to Seychelles on its request. An Indian Ministry of Defense statement said, “On a specific request from the Seychelles, Mr. Antony agreed to provide one new Dornier and two Chetak helicopters from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for maritime surveillance, at the earliest.” The statement quoted him as saying that although delivery would normally take 18 to 24 months, New Delhi would try to provide the aircraft in 15 months. In the meantime, India is to provide an in-service Dornier Aircraft to carry out maritime surveillance. This comes after Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh committed $ 5 million assistance to Seychelles for defense-related projects during the visit of Seychellois President James Alix Michel to India earlier.

Antony met President Michel, Vice President Danny Faure, the Minister for Home Affairs Joel Morgan and Foreign Minister Jean Paul Adam in Mahe, while leading a delegation comprising Defense Secretary Pradeep Kumar and the Vice Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral DK Dewan.