NEW DELHI, Mar 8: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s March 11-12 visit to Mauritius to attend the National Day celebrations as the Chief Guest is a very timely visit and will enable both sides to take stock of bilateral ties and provide orientation to engagement in the coming months and years, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said today.
Addressing a special media briefing ahead of the PM’s visit, the FS said that during the visit, Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam will together inaugurate some projects that have been implemented with Indian assistance and will also witness the signing of several MOUs on cooperation in the field of capacity building, bilateral trade, tackling of cross-border financial crimes and promoting small and medium enterprises.
The PM will also interact with members of the Indian community, friends of India and socio-cultural organizations in Mauritius during the visit.
An Indian naval ship will be present in Mauritius for the March 12 occasion and in addition, the Indian Air Force’s Aakash Ganga skydiving team will also participate in the ceremonies, the FS informed.
The PM will arrive in Port Louis very early in the morning of March 11 and will be accorded a ceremonial welcome on his arrival.
He will visit the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden to pay homage to Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, the former Prime Minister and the founding father of Mauritius, and Sir Anerood Jugnauth, former President and former PM of Mauritius.
Prime Minister Modi will call on the new President of Mauritius, Dharambeer Gokhool, which will be followed by bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Ramgoolam, and also meetings with other political leaders during the visit.
To a question on the Agal ga island, the FS said that during the previous visit of PM Modi in 2015 the two sides had inked an MOU on the improvement of facilities on Agal ga Island for sea and air connectivity.
In February last year, the facilities were jointly inaugurated by the Prime Ministers of the two countries. “The facilities have contributed to enhancing connectivity between the island and mainland Mauritius,” the FS said, adding that during his visit last year he was told how a very devastating cyclone had torn through Mauritius and had particularly affected Agal ga quite badly.
“We had managed to mobilize our assets very quickly and utilizing and leveraging the facilities that had been created in Agal ga were able to deliver much needed assistance and relief material to the people in need on the island. There were sorties also that were conducted between Agal ga and the mainland to undertake additional relief operations. So, during my visit there, my interlocutors were extremely appreciative of the fact that it is the creation of these facilities that has allowed this kind of early and very quick response to take place, and to bring real relief to people who were affected by this disaster,” the FS said.
The Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told parliament last week that PM Modi’s upcoming state visit “is a singular privilege” which the Indian PM is undertaking “despite his extremely busy agenda”. “It is a testament to the close relations of our two nations,” the Mauritian PM said.
PM Modi will be the Guest of Honour at the flag raising ceremony on March 12, which will be held at noon at Champ-de-Mars, Port-Louis. The ceremony will be followed by a traditional cultural program at which Mauritian artistes will be on stage to highlight the cultural diversity in Mauritius.
PM Modi had last visited Port Louis on March 11 and 12, 2015, when the two sides signed several agreements, including one related to the facilities in Agalega Island. The visit is PM Modi’s second State Visit as the Chief Guest at Mauritius’s National Day Celebrations after 2015.
In March 2024, President Droupadi Murmu visited Mauritius from March 11 to 13 to attend the National Day celebrations on March 12 as the chief guest.
In November last year, PM Modi had congratulated Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam on his election victory in Mauritius.
The PM’s visit reaffirms the enduring commitment of both countries to further deepen, enhance, and consolidate their unique and special relationship.
Indian-origin people comprise nearly 70% of the island’s population of 1.3 million.
The Mahatma Gandhi Institute (MGI) was established in 1976 as a joint venture between India and Mauritius for promoting Indian culture.
Mauritius also hosts the World Hindi Secretariat, an India-Mauritius bilateral organization to promote Hindi globally, which was constructed with Indian funding and inaugurated during the visit of President Kovind in March 2018.
India is amongst the largest trading partners of Mauritius.
Mauritius is the second largest source of FDI into India for the FY 2023-24, after Singapore.
The two countries signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) on 22 February 2021, during the visit of EAM S. Jaishankar after nearly 15 years of negotiations. It is the first trade agreement signed by India with an African country.
At present, 11 Indian PSUs are in Mauritius, including Bank of Baroda, Life Insurance Corporation, New India Assurance Corporation, Telecommunications Consultant India Ltd, Indian Oil (Mauritius) Limited, Mahanagar Telephone (Mauritius) Ltd., State Bank of India (Mauritius), among others.
(UNI)
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