The bilateral cooperation between India and Mauritius witnessed a mammoth growth trickling to various sectors, buoyed by the CEPCA agreement, social and educational projects such as scholarships as well as the metro project, and cultural activities. The various underlying cooperation agreements between both nations were outlined by the Indian High Commissioner (HC) Her Excellency Shrimati Nandini Singla during her speech on August 15 at IGCIC in the context of the 76th Independence Day celebrations. Let’s have a look at the various sector agreements and cooperation tenets unfurled between India and Mauritius during the past year. The High Commissioner also expressed her gratitude to the Government of India when last November, former Indian Head of State His Excellency Shri Ramnath Kovind presented the Padma Vibhushan award posthumously to former Premier and President Sir Anerood Jugnauth whom she called, “A great friend of India and a tall leader and statesman.” The Padma Vibhushan was received by Lady Sarojini Jugnauth, which she called, “another great friend of our country.”
Economic partnership, CEPCA, and Afrinex
The bilateral trade between India and Mauritius saw a whopping growth to the tune of 69 percent during the last year as it weathered challenges posed by COVID 19, underlined by Her Excellency (H.E) Shrimati Nandini K Singla and under the Economic Chapter she further emphasised: “As you are aware, India inked its first-ever free trade agreement CEPCA last year and the first one in Africa where Mauritius was chosen coupled with the fact that the year’s first meeting under the agreement was held a few days back where the General Economic Cooperation chapter was signed, which at the same time included an automatic trigger safeguard.”
The ambassador stressed on the role played by the Indian Business Council incepted last year where one of its main aims is to act as a facilitator to do business with India while at the same time tapping into opportunities offered by CEPCA. She added that India also partnered with the Government of Mauritius, ushering into the setting up of the Pan Africa international stock exchange Afrinex, relying on the support of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) where very recently it listed bonds USD 4 billion increasing market capitalisation of total listed securities in Mauritius by 75 percent.
Traditional medicine, development partnership projects
The traditional Ayurvedic medicine remains an important aspect of the India-Mauritius cooperation where high-level engagement was resumed during the year and spearheaded by the successful visit of Premier Pravind Jugnauth to India, defined as a “groundbreaking ceremony” by the Indian envoy pertaining to the global centre for traditional medicine in Jamnagar, Gujarat. The centre was jointly inaugurated by PMs Narendra Modi and Jugnauth together with the Director General of WHO.
Both Governments spared no efforts to promote social and educational projects where Premiers Modi and Jugnauth virtually inaugurated in January 20, 956 social housing unit projects on while at the same time laying the foundation for a new Civil Services college on the island. Significant projects include a new solar project together with a fresh USD 190 million lines of credit announced by the Indian Government to fund the metro and other significant infrastructure projects on the island.
Ambassador Singla emphasised: “I am personally very excited about the new development partnership termed Small Community Project under which new football fields, volleyball courts, health tracks and recreational centres will be built aiming to enrich the community and enhance the quality of life while bringing India closer to every Mauritian, irrespective of color, caste or creed.”
Empowering through Education and skilling
Education and skills remain inimical to empowerment and growth to which India attaches great importance, making it an intrinsic aspect of bilateral relationships. The HC expressed her happiness telling that during the year 2022, the number of free Indian online education courses offered to Mauritius has been enhanced 20-fold, from 16 courses to 314. She told: “The courses span practically every sector of human activity, ranging from diploma to undergraduate and postgraduate covering computer science, management, accountancy and psychology.”
“A learning centre was very recently set up by India at the Open University of Mauritius in offering various facilities such as computers and internet facilities to the intention of students unable to access such facilities for the free online courses offered by India under the e-VidyaBharati and e-AarogyaBharati (e-VBAB) project,” the ambassador told.
Metro: An icon of India-Mauritius friendship
The ambassador gave a peek at the various collaborations pertaining to internal security, cooperation, resilience, risk management, and the ongoing Metro project spearheaded on the island. Despite the COVID-19 challenges, the development partnership cooperation embarked on a continuous path which represents a huge pillar in the India-Mauritius relationship. She told: “The Metro is progressing ahead of schedule where the Quatre Bornes-Phoenix segment was inaugurated in May and just a few days ago India announced a new line of credit to the tune of USD 300 billion along with a grant of USD 25 million to extend the route from Reduit to Saint Pierre and Cote d’Or. The Metro is truly an icon of India-Mauritian friendship.”
She told: “The exchange of delegation between both countries resumed after COVID with visits undertaken by both Indian and Mauritius teams to help assist towards the development of a blueprint for e-governance on the island to initiate cooperation across spheres such as space and satellites and water as well as sharing best practices in Covid management.”
“At the same time, the aim is to help charter a roadmap to enhance the disaster resilience of Mauritius across critical sectors such as power, telecom, transportation, combat drugs, and human trafficking, marine oil spills.”
“There have been over 200 officials hailing from Mauritius having attended training programmes despite the pandemic coupled with many students availing of scholarships in India. I look forward to the execution of several new projects in the pipeline such as the new Civil Services college, new forensic science laboratory, police academy, national library, archive building, solar power project as well as the small development projects that will leave a footprint of India practically at the doorstep of everyone in the country,” the Ambassador further added. During the past year, India also participated for the first time as an observer at the Indian Ocean Commission headquartered on the local shores.
Cementing culture ties, wellness and NCC Youth Exchange
Under this chapter, Her Excellency Nandini Singla spoke about the launch of the Azaadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav which she referred to as 2 year-long celebration starting on March 12 when Father of the Nation Shri Mahatma Gandhi launched the Dandi Satyagraha during India’s freedom struggle while coinciding with the Independence Day of Mauritius.
The HC announced that as part of ongoing efforts to commemorate India-Mauritius ties, a staggering 40 cultural events were held, and at the IGCIC alone, 74 cultural events took place in 6 months where she lauded the steering role played by the centre’s director, Mr. Balwant Thakur.
There has been a slew of achievements where Ambassador Singla mentioned the inauguration of two Ashoka Stambh (Pillars of Ashoka) replicas, one at the IGCIC by the Mauritius Head of State Prithiviraj Singh Roopun and the second one erected at the new Indian High Commission at Ebene, unveiled by PM Jugnauth.
A new radio programme Darshan was also launched where an Indian state is presented every week and for which the ambassador expressed special thanks to Shashi Dookhun from the MBC. The Ayush Mela was also launched with the aim to bring Indian traditional wellness and holistic therapies to help spread awareness on the need to eat right and exercise right to the intention of people in Mauritius coupled with Camps held all over the island to take the message forward. The Amrit Vijit samaan award ceremony was one such event heralded by the Indian Government to honor all Hindi laureates in Mauritius around the age of 75 which she defines as a must and about the right time to not only recognize but celebrate the contribution of the language ambassadors.
Reflecting on the cooperation between both countries, she stressed the fact: “What lies at the heart of India-Mauritius relationships are our people to people ties and with several youngsters from Mauritius is visiting India and states such as Goa, Gujarat and Rajasthan to rediscover their Indian roots and cultural heritage under the Know India Programme.”
“As I speak, there is a multi-party delegation from Mauritius traveling across India and witnessing the democracy and development first hand, forming part of the Gen Next Democracy network programme. This, I believe, reflects the true spirit of India, our commitment to democracy, pluralism, and diversity,” she averred.
The ambassador kept the last nugget for last narrating that on the morning of India’s celebration of its 76th Independence Day by PM Modi at Red Fort aired on TV, there were 10 young Mauritians at the venue and a first for delegation hailing from the island who participated in India’s National Cadet Corps Youth Exchange Programme on Independence Day. “I choose to end my speech with this because 32 years back, I participated in a similar youth exchange programme in Canada as an NCC Cadet, and the reason I am here today standing before you all since it shaped my decision to join the Indian Foreign Service.”
Continuing in the same vein, the HC shared: “I’m sure some youngsters who are there in India to celebrate Independence Day with our PM this morning will continue to create new linkages, and may this cherished bond continue to strengthen the mutual benefit among the people of our two countries and help forge a better world.”
