Victoria is a city in Seychelles which is the smallest island in the world. Victoria has a population of 25000 people considered to the city with the lowest population in the world. The 25000 are of mixed origin both Indians and Africans. Seychelles separated from Mauritius and became a colony in 1903. Victoria is referred as a tropical island paradise by tourists and visitors who visit the place yearly to bask in the sun.
Despite the fact that Seychelles is small in size and population, its strategic position to Africa, Arab, China, and India makes it an important country in the world. In October India sent their Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on an unannounced visit to Seychelles where he meets the country’s president and talked of infrastructure projects and discussed on how the two countries can improve on their relationships.
The number of Chinese who are visiting the island is on the rise from 500 people in 2011 to 1500 in 2016. The recently announced shift by the US president from the use of “Asia Pacific’ to “Indo Pacific” shows the direction US is taking showing the importance of Indian Ocean which hosts Seychelles Island. There is also a planned collaboration between US, Japan, India, and Australia with the aim to counterattack China maritime ambitions and that puts more spotlights on the Indian Ocean.
It’s believed that more than 60% of the world’s oil shipping takes place through the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean is the basement of many ports in the world, and that’s why many powerful countries want to have the control on it.
Just like any other island nations with low population and inadequate natural resource, Seychelles has become the center of attention to many tax evaders and money launderers. China wants to maximize on the low levels of education, low population and lack of resources in Seychelles to get its way into the country’s economy. China’s first oversee military base that was recently opened in Djibouti is seen as a move by China to have a control over the Indian Ocean. The good relationship between China and Seychelles does not sound so well to other countries like India and US.
