Port Louis/New Delhi, July 16 (UNI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said that India remains committed to strengthening its critical partnership with Mauritius that is very important for the future of the Indian Ocean region, as he held talks with Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth and inaugurated 12 High Impact Community Development Projects in Port Louis.
In an address after talks with PM Jugnauth, EAM Jaishankar said that “India is truly proud to be a partner of Mauritius in your journey towards modernity and progress”.
He said the fact that Mauritius is among the first few countries that he is visiting in his new term as Minister “underscores the strength and depth of our bilateral ties”. The visit is “also an opportunity to underline India’s unwavering commitment to its special and enduring partnership with Mauritius”, he added.
He said that in their meeting, they discussed various aspects of the bilateral ties, including the Development Partnership, Defense and Maritime Corporation, economic and trade ties, and people-to-people linkages.
EAM also “reiterated India’s consistent and continued support to Mauritius in its quest for progress and prosperity”.
He said India’s ties with Mauritius “benefits from four Indian priority foreign policy approaches– Neighborhood First Policy, Vision SAGAR, Africa Forward Initiative, as well as commitment to the Global South. This is in addition to the close bonds the two share from history and kinship.
“Our relationship today has actually blossomed into a robust and multifaceted partnership. Indeed, it serves as a role model for India’s successful development collaboration abroad.”
EAM said he would be joining PM Jugnauth in inaugurating the Mediclinic in Grand Bois tomorrow, built with Indian grant assistance, adding to a list of signature projects here. He would also visit another Indian assisted project, the Civil Service College in Moka, which will be ready for inauguration soon.
“We truly take pride that our collaboration changes the lives of ordinary citizens in this country, through many community development projects.”
He said the 12 community projects inaugurated virtually today cover infrastructure in education, in healthcare, in public amenities and in sports. With this, 37 out of 96 such community projects have become operational in the span of just one year, he said, adding that eight more will be inaugurated in the next two months in Rodrigues and Agalega.
Their discussion on space cooperation has been translated into a concrete project with the exchange of Project Plan Document between India’s ISRO and Mauritius MRIC. “We look forward to its early implementation so as to launch a satellite for Mauritius,” the EAM announced.
He also mentioned the handing over to Mauritius the royalty payment cheque of 1.3 million Mauritian rupees towards revenues earned from the sale of Mauritian nautical charts produced by our joint hydrography service. “This maritime collaboration is now nearly two decades old and has added value to our multifaceted cooperation,” he added.
In order to preserve their shared history, of Indian indentured labourers who arrived on the shores during colonial rule, the EAM said that India will support the Mahatma Gandhi Institute in digitizing the documented records of indentured workers, as well as provide training to MGI staff through the National Archives of India. “We have also agreed today to renew the term of the ICCR Chair in Sanskrit and Indian Philosophies at the MGI for another five years.”
On the issue of the Chagos islands, the EAM assured PM Jugnauth that India will “continue its consistent support to Mauritius in line with its principal stand on decolonization and support for sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations”.
Mauritius has a longstanding territorial dispute with the UK over the Chagos islands, which the UK has maintained control over since 1814.
The UK forcibly expelled around 2,000 Chagossians in the 1970s to make way for a US military base there.
In 2019, the International Court of Justice ruled that the UK’s occupation of the Chagos Islands was illegal.
The two sides have begun negotiations over the future of the Chagos Islands, but the dispute remains unresolved.
Earlier in the day, Jaishankar arrived in the early morning and was welcomed at the airport of Piacenza by Minister Maneesh Gobin, and the High Commissioner Nandini Singla.
