Seychelles’ vulnerabilities in the geo-political context February 22, 2016 Seychelles founding President Sir James R. Mancham shares his views with the role India-China-the United States plays in the Indian Ocean and what it means for his country, the Republic of the Seychelles. A few years, ago I told an audience of presidents of the Pacific island nations at an international conference in Tokyo, Japan that they should pray to God Almighty that the only oil they ever discover on their islands is coconut oil, telling them that if they were to discover the real stuff, then the likelihood is that they would not be the master of their destiny anymore. Perhaps I should also have told them that their islands do not become the center of geo-political attention by the competing big powers.