Operation Flowers are Blooming was the name of an operation by the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

to help avert a threatened coup against the government of President

France-Albert René France-Albert René (; 16 November 1934 – 27 February 2019) was a Seychellois lawyer, politician and statesman who served as the second President of Seychelles from 1977 to 2004. He also served as the country's 2nd Prime Minister from its in ...

in the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

in 1986. During the 1980s there were several coup attempts against René. In 1981, the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n security services famously organised an attempted coup against René by a group of 44 white

mercenaries A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

led by Colonel "Mad"

Mike Hoare Thomas Michael Hoare (17 March 1919 – 2 February 2020), known as Mad Mike Hoare, was a British mercenary soldier who operated during the Simba rebellion, and attempted to conduct a coup d'état in the Seychelles. Early life and military car ...

. Other coups were also planned by elements in René’s regime, among Seychellois exiles in Britain,

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and by anti-communists in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. President René turned to India as a security provider, seeking a commitment from Indian Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

to intervene against any coups, but Gandhi declined to give a public commitment to intervene. In 1986, there was a series of coup attempts against President René led by the Seychelles Minister of Defence,

Ogilvy Berlouis Ogilvy Berlouis (22 August 1950 – 3 April 2018) was the first Minister of Home Affairs of Seychelles, which he held from 1977 until 1979. He was also the Minister of Defence and Youth of Seychelles and the Chief of Defence Forces of Seychelles f ...

. This included a plot in June 1986, codenamed Operation Distant Lash, which involved some 30 mercenaries and 350 Seychellois. When

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

was informed of an impending coup by intelligence sources, Prime Minister

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...

personally contacted the Indian Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral

Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani Admiral Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani, PVSM, AVSM (12 May 1930 – 14 October 2015) was a Flag officer in the Indian Navy. He served as the 12th Chief of the Naval Staff from 1 December 1984 until 30 November 1987. His prior commands included ...

, with a verbal request to provide assistance to René. Coincidentally, the Indian Navy had already dispatched the frigate

INS Vindhyagiri (F42) INS ''Vindhyagiri'' was a of the Indian Navy. ''Vindhyagiri'' was commissioned on 8 July 1981. After nearly thirty years of service, she sank a few hours after colliding with a merchant vessel on 30 January 2011. Although she was subsequent ...

on a scheduled visit to the Seychelles. It was decided that on arrival ''Vindhyagiri'' would report an engineering defect requiring an extended stay in Port Victoria. A senior Indian naval officer was then sent to the Seychelles on a commercial airline to command the operation and an "engineering" team of 20 sailors trained in weapons was readied for dispatch to Port Victoria. The extended presence of the ''Vindhyagiri'' in Port Victoria averted the planned coup. Two months later, Berlouis made another attempt to unseat President René which India again helped to quash. The plot was uncovered in late August 1986 while President René was attending a meeting of the

Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide. The movement originated in the aftermath o ...

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

with Rajiv Gandhi and other leaders of non-aligned states. Gandhi lent René his own plane, called

Air India One Air India One (also referred to as AI1 AIC1 or INDIA 1) is the air traffic control call sign of any Special Extra Section Flight (SESF) operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF) for the President of India, Vice President of India or Prime Minister ...

, to return to the Seychelles early. According to one report on 6 September, René, disguised as an Indian woman wearing a

sari A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO * bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO * gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std= ...

, was met at the airport by the Indian High Commissioner and taken to the Commissioner's residence. Berlouis and other plotters were then tracked to the island of Praslin. Berlouis and four other army officers were forced to resign and Berlouis left for London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flowers are Blooming, Operation 1986 in Seychelles Government of Seychelles Indian Navy Military operations involving India Operations involving Indian special forces