Connectivity, trade and cooperation between Seychelles and India will be taken further, the newly accredited Indian High Commissioner said on Tuesday.

Kartik Pande made this statement to the press after presenting his credentials to Seychelles' President, Wavel Ramkalawan at State House.

"If you look at the partnership between India and Seychelles, it is noticeable that it is a developmental cooperation relationship where there are certain projects that we are doing, one of which is the High Impact Community Development Project. We wish to take them further," said Pande.

He added that during his mandate he will focus on capacity building in various fields,  with the general idea being to just take stock of that and then further deepen the relationship based on the priority of Seychelles.

"There are a lot of courses under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme, again primarily for capacity building," he said.

Speaking on the field of education, more specifically about the courses offered to Seychellois by the Indian government, Pande outlined that there is a need to revise and look at the courses being offered and make them more relevant.

"It is no use having courses that nobody is attending. It might not be immediate, but that is part of the process. It is part of my mandate to actually offer courses and capacity building which the Seychellois want," he explained.

Seychelles and India established diplomatic relations in June 1976 and the new Indian High Commissioner said that the two countries "have a very warm and cordial relationship that extends in fact to all areas of bilateral engagement. The primary objective of being here is to chaperone that relationship so that it becomes even deeper."

Following his accreditation, Pande is expected to call on several government leaders.