NEWS

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a Varanasi meeting with Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, announced a special economic package for Mauritius.
• Described India-Mauritius ties as “not just partners but a family,” highlighting deep historical, cultural, and strategic links.
• Seven Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed, covering development and cooperation projects.

HIGHLIGHTS

• India will assist Mauritius in building hospitals, roads, expanding highways and ring roads, and delivering helicopters.
• Projects include:
  • Chagos Marine Protected Area development
  • ATC Tower at SSR International Airport
  • Expansion of highways and ring roads
• India committed to strengthening Mauritius’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) security and enhancing maritime capacity.

Historical and Cultural Ties:

• India established diplomatic relations with Mauritius in 1948; Mauritius gained independence in 1968.
• Approximately 70% of Mauritius’s population is of Indian origin.
• Major political families: Ramgoolams and Jugnauths.

Economic Cooperation:

• Bilateral trade grew from USD 206.76 million (2005–06) to USD 851.13 million (2023–24).
• India’s main exports: pharmaceuticals, cereals, cotton, prawns, and meat.
• Mauritius exports: vanilla, medical devices, aluminium alloys, and refined copper.
• Mauritius has contributed USD 175 billion FDI to India since 2000; second-largest FDI source in 2023–24.
• CECPA (2021) provides preferential trade access: 310 Indian and 615 Mauritian products.

Strategic Significance:

• Mauritius, in the western Indian Ocean, is critical to India’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) policy.
• Enhances maritime security, regional stability, and economic partnerships.
• MAHASAGAR doctrine aligns with India’s Indo-Pacific strategy.