(Seychelles News Agency) - Seychelles will support Mauritius' bid to secure a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the period 2025-2026 as well as and its candidature for the Executive Board of UNESCO for the term 2023-2027, said a top official on Thursday.

Foreign affairs minister Sylvestre Radegonde made the statement at the end of the 13th Session of the Seychelles-Mauritius Commission on Bilateral Cooperation.

Radegonde and his counterpart from Mauritius, Alan Ganoo, signed the minutes of the ministerial meeting of the joint commission on bilateral cooperation.

The Mauritian Minister called on Seychelles' President Wavel Ramkalawan on Thursday afternoon.

Seychelles' President with Minister Ganoo. (Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY

During the ministerial session, the key issues addressed were trade links, the Blue Economy, fisheries, tourism, health, education, climate change and maritime security, among others.

"While our countries share a vision for a peaceful and prosperous Indian Ocean region, and we are committed to working together to achieve this goal, we need to be mindful of the increasing complexity of maritime security challenges within our region, hindering our aspirations of attaining a sustainable ocean-based economy," said Radegonde.

He emphasised that the two countries should have a more integrated approach for addressing jointly common concerns and interests on international platforms.

These include maritime security threats, climate change-related issues, and the adoption of a multidimensional vulnerability index (MVI), which strives to increase the eligibility for small island developing states (SIDS) to access concessional financing for their development needs.

Radegonde seized the opportunity to congratulate his counterpart for his recent and well-deserved elevation to 'Grand Commander of the Order of the State and Key of the Indian Ocean (GCSK), as well as for Mauritius assuming the presidency of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC).

He expressed his conviction that under the Mauritian leadership, the IOC will be further energised to achieve the common goals of all its member states.

On the Mauritius side, Minister Ganoo said that this long-anticipated session of the bilateral commission is a testament to the two countries' common resolve and determination to work towards the strengthening of their relationship.

According to a press release from the Foreign Affairs Department, Ganoo said that "the meeting was neither to negotiate, nor to bargain, but rather to build complementarities, synergies and resilience in all desired areas and at all levels."

He also thanked Seychelles for its support to Mauritius for its candidatures for the UNSC and UNESCO.

Ganoo also expressed satisfaction that in building synergies between Mauritius and Seychelles, the two countries are exploring various proposals for economic collaboration in many domains including ease of doing business, handicraft, ICT, financial services and tourism.

He said that since the ocean is the guardian of the common future which unites Mauritius and Seychelles, critical issues like maritime security and the preservation of marine resources will always figure prominently in bilateral engagements.

Ganoo emphasised that the success of Mauritius-Seychelles cooperation does not solely lie in jointly agreeing on programnes and projects but to a very large extent in the execution and implementation of such agreed joint projects and programmes.

The Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation, which takes place every two years, is a platform where discussions focus on strengthening and expanding cooperation between the two countries.

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the parties that last met in Port Louis in 2017, had to postpone their meeting until 2023.