Transcript of Special Briefing by MEA on Prime Minister's State Visit to Mauritius (March 12, 2025)
India - Ministry of External Affairs
March 12, 2025
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to this press briefing by Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri on the ongoing state visit of Prime Minister to Mauritius. We also have with us for this session Shri Puneet Agarwal, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. With that, I request Foreign Secretary, sir, to make his opening remarks and thereafter we'll have some questions from the audience.
Shri Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary: Thank you, Randhir. Good afternoon all, and thank you for joining us here today.
I know the final few engagements of Prime Minister are still ongoing. He is currently at the Champ de Mars, participating in the National Day celebrations of Mauritius as the Chief Guest at the invitation of Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam. Shortly after the events at Champ de Mars are concluded, he will go to Ganga Talao, which is the final leg of what I must say has been a very substantive, productive, and fruitful visit to Mauritius.
As you are all aware, the Prime Minister arrived very early in the morning yesterday in Port Louis to an exceptionally warm and generous welcome. He's had already a number of engagements since his arrival yesterday, and you would have been following the program. He was accompanied by Prime Minister Ramgoolam as he went to pay his tributes to the two leading lights of Mauritius, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam and Sir Anerood Jugnauth at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Gardens in Pamplemousses.
Together, the two Prime ministers also planted a tree under the "Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam", Tree for Mother initiative that Prime Minister Modi has initiated. Thereafter, the Prime Minister paid a call on President Dharambeer Gokhool at State House. The two discussed a number of matters of mutual interest including India's participation in programs dedicated to social, economic, and cultural development and prosperity in Mauritius.
The President hosted a banquet lunch in honor of the Prime Minister, and at the end of that they together toured the Ayurveda Garden at State House which also reflected their previous discussions and the connection between the two countries insofar as traditional medicine is concerned.
One of the other components of this particular engagement was the handing over by the Prime Minister of Overseas Citizenship of India cards to President Gokhool and to his spouse, Mrs. Brinda Gokhool. In the afternoon, the Prime Minister addressed a community event at the Trianon Convention Center which saw a very large turnout of members of the Indian origin diaspora, friends from Mauritius, and leaders from a number of socio-cultural organizations.
In his remarks, the Prime Minister emphasized the ties, the specific and very special nature of the ties between India and Mauritius as well as the plans and the measures that are underway to enhance our bilateral relations. He spoke about areas where India and Mauritius can continue to work together such as combating Climate Change, cooperating on digital transformation, women empowerment, challenges of drug abuse. The Prime Minister on this occasion also handed over Overseas Citizen of India cards to Prime Minister Ramgoolam and his spouse, Mrs. Veena Ramgoolam.
The discussions, official discussions between the two Prime Ministers began in the evening. There was a restricted meeting with delegates from both sides present, and it was followed by a tete-a-tete between the two Prime Ministers. The two leaders reviewed cooperation in the defence and maritime security field, in economic engagement, as well as on developmental partnership initiatives, and developments of global and regional concern.
And this was then followed by a state dinner hosted by Prime Minister Ramgoolam in honor of the Prime Minister. Earlier this morning, the Prime Minister received for courtesy visits, former Prime Minister Mr. Pravind Jugnauth and the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Georges-Pierre Lesjongard. The discussions with both leaders focused on strengthening cooperation between our two countries in all spheres.
Following that, the Prime Minister proceeded to the National Assembly where formal delegation level talks were held between the two leaders. Again, the two leaders had the opportunity to take stock in detail on cooperation on development partnership initiatives, trade, the economic ties, and ways to deepen people-to-people ties between the two countries.
They have adopted a joint vision for an Enhanced Strategic Partnership. This is a document which I think it has already been released in the public domain. It elevates our partnership with Mauritius to the level of a strategic partnership, and in that, it is the first such partnership anywhere that India has concluded with a partner in its neighborhood. If you see the Joint Statement closely, the cooperation envisaged covers several areas, including political exchanges, development partnership, capacity building, space and digital technologies, education, and talks about fostering greater ties in the economic, defence, and maritime security domains, while also, of course, emphasizing the traditional domains of cultural and people-to-people ties.
There have been several outcomes during this short but very substantive visit, as I said. There were two announcements, three launches or inaugurations, one handover, and the exchange of as many as eight MOUs, and I will try and take you through some of these very briefly. During the visit, the Prime Minister announced India's support towards the construction of a new parliament building in Mauritius, and to provide grant assistance to undertake phase two of the high-impact community development projects program. And this latter HICDP program will be worth 500 million Mauritian rupees.
The leaders also inaugurated some important projects built with grant assistance from India, and these included the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Public Service and Innovation. The college is meant to train Mauritian civil servants and will also serve as a center of excellence for governance and training. As you can see, it's been named after late Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and in doing so, the Mauritian government honors the legacy of Prime Minister Vajpayee and the efforts that he had made to strengthen the bilateral relationship.
The two leaders also virtually inaugurated the area health center in Cap Malheureux, and as many as 20 HICDP projects, which include playgrounds for children, upgradation of green spaces, and community centers for the benefit of citizens. The leaders also, as I said, witnessed the exchange of several Memorandums of Understanding. Just very quickly, in terms of the content of these MOUs. There's an MOU on training and capacity-building programs for Public Service Officers from Mauritius, and under this, India will train 500 civil servants from Mauritius over the course of five years. An MOU on training of diplomats from Mauritius at the Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service in New Delhi. An MOU on local currency settlement of our bilateral trade. You might recall that we have already operationalized UPI and RuPay cards in Mauritius, and together, these initiatives are meant to promote bilateral trade and investment using our respective local currencies, improve tourism, and promote people-to-people ties. We also had an MOU on combating financial crimes. This will provide the framework to share intelligence as well as extend technical assistance on anti-corruption and anti-money laundering activities.
There's been an MOU on cooperation in the field of small and medium enterprises, an MOU on supporting Mauritius in the development of its blue economy, something that Prime Minister Ramgoolam emphasized repeatedly in his remarks today as well. It will help both sides to cooperate on ocean observation, research, and information sharing.
We've also signed today an agreement on an Indian rupee-denominated line of credit amounting to 487.6 crore Indian rupees for undertaking the replacement of water pipelines in Mauritius. This line of credit has been extended by the State Bank of India. It is the first ever Indian rupee-based Line of Credit that's being extended by India to any country and, therefore, a significant development which expands further our ongoing development cooperation partnership through Indian rupee Lines of Credit. We've had a technical agreement today on white-shipping information exchange with Mauritius.
As I had said earlier, this will improve maritime domain awareness on the part of Mauritian authorities, and enable both sides to exchange information leading to better law enforcement capabilities. India has also today handed over a navigational chart for the St. Brandon Islands, which was prepared following a hydrographic survey conducted by Indian survey ships around this island.
Coming to the last section of the engagements, as I said, the Prime Minister participated as The Chief Guest at the National Day celebrations of Mauritius held at Champs de Mars. In the celebrations, a contingent from the Indian Navy, a marching band, a ship of the Indian Navy, and helicopters from India are participating and Akash Ganga skydiving team is also participating in these celebrations.
You are all aware that during the course of this visit, the Government of Mauritius has taken the decision to confer upon the Prime Minister, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean. The award, as you would be aware, is generally conferred at State House. Perhaps this is the first time that it is being conferred during the National Day celebrations, and is in recognition of the efforts that the Prime Minister has made in strengthening the unique and very special bilateral relationship between India and Mauritius. Prime Minister Modi is the first Indian to receive this distinguished honor. He has already in his remarks publicly as well as in his meetings with the Leaders conveyed his gratitude for the conferment of this award, which he has accepted on behalf of the people of India.
The visit's final leg which I think is probably about to get underway even though I can see that it is raining quite hard, but nevertheless, it's an extremely deeply symbolic gesture whereby the Prime Minister proposes to offer Gangajal from the recently concluded Mahakumbh at Prayagraj into Ganga Talao. You would have heard some of Prime Minister's earlier remarks about this as well, and this symbolizes once again and reinforces the deeply spiritual and cultural connections between our two countries. All in all, this has been an extremely substantive and productive visit.
It has enabled two Leaders who know each other for quite a long time to re-engage and to once again discuss issues important to the relationship, and provide a new orientation to the relationship by elevating it to the level of a strategic partnership that befits the depth and strength of our bilateral ties.
You would also have seen the Prime Minister advancing a vision for the Global South in the form of Vision MAHASAGAR, Mutual And Holistic Advancement for Security And Growth Across Regions. This is particularly fitting given that 10 years ago when Prime Minister was here last, for on that occasion as well as the Chief Guest for the National Day celebrations, in his speech during on that occasion he had advanced Vision SAGAR which is Security And Growth Across Regions and on this occasion he has advanced Vision MAHASAGAR, Mutual And Holistic Advancement for Security And Growth Across Regions. And this vision will guide our engagements with countries in the Global South in the coming years.
So let me stop there because I'm told that we also have a hard stop. I have to make sure that the plane doesn't leave without me, so I'll be happy to take a few questions. Thank you.
Vikalp Shukla, All India Radio: Sir, I am Vikalp Shukla, from All India Radio. Sir, can you please elaborate about this MAHASAGAR Vision and how it's different from SAGAR Vision?
Sahil Pandey, ANI: Good afternoon, sir. I'm Sahil from ANI. PM just announced the expansion of SAGAR to become MAHASAGAR Vision. What would be the priority areas for this and what role does India see Mauritius playing in MAHASAGAR Vision?
Akshay Dongare, DD News: Sir, Akshay Dongare from DD News. Several announcements were made regarding the India-Mauritius maritime security and development of coastal areas. What are some key projects in this field and what is their objective?
Mohammad Ghazali, NDTV: Sir, Mohammad Ghazali from NDTV. Can you just elaborate on the white shipping agreement, and how it is going to ward off China's growing influence in the region?
Rishikesh Kumar, PTI: Sir, Rishikesh from PTI. So Mauritius' Foreign Minister has said that his government seeks an amendment in the double taxation avoidance convention, because he says that FDI to India via Mauritius has ... with most investment now being routed through Singapore. So was there any discussion regarding this? And is India ready to amend DTAC as well as CPEC, this trade agreement as well? And was there a discussion regarding increasing Chinese presence, especially Chinese fishing vessels in this region?
Shri Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary: So on these questions related to MAHASAGAR, as I said, obviously, this is taking forward, in a sense, the vision SAGAR by making it more comprehensive, and connecting different regions. You would recall that India has been taking a number of initiatives with the interests of the Global South at the center of those initiatives. We have held thus far three Voice of Global South summits. The objective was also to bring the voice of the Global South to the global high table. We did that also through our presidency of the G20. And in advancing Vision MAHASAGAR, we are demonstrating and signaling once again our commitment to the Global South. In terms of the specifics that you mentioned, the vision will focus on trade for development ... will focus on initiatives related to capacity building for sustainable growth. There will be focus on activities related to mutual security. And in this spirit, we will also, with the countries of the Global South, undertake technology sharing and extend project-specific concessional finance, including grant assistance.
Some of you might recall that following the third Voice of the Global South Summit, India had also spoken about a global compact for development. And we would look at drawing on some of the ideas from that, as we go ahead in concretizing and giving shape and substance to vision MAHASAGAR.
On maritime security and the questions related to white shipping, and especially the agreement that was entered into today. As I said, the maritime security, of course, is a significant issue of discussion between India and Mauritius. If you look at the map, you see the criticality of cooperation between the two countries in this particular sphere. The agreement that has been exchanged today on sharing of white shipping information between the Indian Navy and the government of Mauritius will essentially enhance Mauritius' maritime security. Its safety of its trade will lead to real-time sharing of data, preventing illegal activities, and in an overall sense, enhancing maritime domain awareness for Mauritius' authorities.
We heard during the discussions between the two leaders the concern that is there with regard to activities such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, even piracy that is beginning to show up in these areas. And I think an enhanced sense of maritime domain awareness through the exchange of white shipping information will be a significant shot in the arm for the agencies responsible for maritime security, including the Indian Navy, Mauritius' police authorities, and others.
On questions related to the double taxation avoidance agreement, you are aware that the agreement has already been signed. It was signed last year. And there was a context for the signature of this particular agreement, which was aimed to align this treaty with the minimum standards that have been set by the OECD and by the G20 initiative related to BEPS, which is Base Erosion and Profit Shifting. So this is not something that has been brought up unilaterally or is being done in a narrow bilateral context by India. This is something that is becoming the norm globally. And large economies, important economies, and especially economies that have a stake in the international financial system, as I believe the Mauritian economy does, would need to start aligning themselves with these kinds of minimum standards that have been set. We on our part in India have completed our ratification procedures. The process, we understand, is still underway on the Mauritian side.
There are some clarifications that had been requested by our colleagues from Mauritius. These clarifications have been provided, and they have been provided at a very high level. Our aim is to set at rest all doubts and provide satisfaction to our friends and colleagues from Mauritius that they have a good and a solid agreement on this front. And therefore this matter was also discussed during the visit, and we very much hope that Mauritius will complete its internal processes at the soonest, and the protocol will come into force very quickly.
Rishikesh Kumar, PTI: Is there any time frame to implement this local currency settlement, sir, and also the construction of parliament building? When will it be completed, sir?
Shri Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary: The agreement on local currency settlement has just been signed. The objective, as I have mentioned, is to promote the use of local currencies for current account as well as capital account transactions, encourage direct exchange rate quotations, encourage the setting up of an Indian rupee clearing centre in Mauritius, and extend an Indian rupee clearing centre to COMESA countries. The idea is to provide avenues for enhancing trade, tourism, other kinds of business activities between the two countries.
Obviously the designated authorities on the two sides, the Reserve Bank of India on the Indian side and the Bank of Mauritius on the Mauritius side will need to now get down to implementing the agreement and put in place the last mile systems and procedures to actually start benefiting from the agreement. So this is something that will start now that the agreement has been signed.
Your other question was about parliament building? Yeah, I think now that we've announced that we will support the construction of a new parliament building, there is a sort of a set procedure for undertaking these kinds of projects. We will obviously look forward to receiving some sort of a proposal from the Mauritius authorities on the scope of the project, and then we will get down to deciding the method of implementation of the project in terms of design, consultancy, development, construction, etc. Thank you.
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. With that we come to the closure of this session. Thank you for your presence.
Port Louis
March 12, 2025
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