A plan for India to build a military base on an outlying Seychelles island has won favour among the archipelago nation's politicians, but some hostility from its people.

The base on Assumption Island is to be funded by India and shared by the two countries' militaries.

The deal was struck in principle in 2015 during a visit to the Seychelles by India's prime minister Narendra Modi, but progress since has been slow.

The government of the Seychelles, based in Victoria on Mahe Island 1,135 kilometres (705 miles) northeast of Assumption, says the base will help coastguards to patrol its 1.3 million square kilometre (500,000 square mile) exclusive economic zone for illegal fishing, drug trafficking and piracy.

The remote coral island's location lends it strategic importance for monitoring shipping in the Mozambique Channel.

India plans to invest $550 million dollars (446 million euros) in building the base to help it ensure the safety of its vessels in the southern Indian Ocean. It also says the base will be a resource for other shipping nations.

Nevertheless, the project remains controversial with small weekly demonstrations in the capital.

Indian presence in the Seychelles is a sensitive matter. Some fear an influx of Indian workers who, they say, might come to dominate the economy, while others consider a foreign power building a military base an affront to sovereignty and national pride.

Opponents of the plan also cite Assumption's relative proximity to Aldabra atoll, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is home to the world's largest population of giant tortoises.

India has had a military cooperation agreement with the Seychelles since 2003 and the deal would give it use of the Assumption base for up to 30 years. Indian soldiers would be deployed on the island and help train Seychelles' troops.