Deepak Dwivedi
FEW countries are as close to India as Mauritius, and to underscore this point, Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed over Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards to its President Dharambeer Gokhool and First Lady Vrinda Gokhool as he kicked off his two-day visit to the island nation.
“Mauritius is like ‘Mini India,” he later told Indian diaspora at a community event at the country’s capital Port Louis, which was also attended by Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, his wife, and Cabinet ministers. The ties that bind New Delhi to Port Louis are many, including the island’s large Indian-origin population, comprising nearly 70 pc of its 1.3 million people.
Highest honour
The Indian PM was the Chief Guest at the National Day celebrations of Mauritius, where he was conferred with the country’s highest civilian honour – The Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean.
PM Modi’s visit, however, went beyond reassertion of the two countries’ commonalities. It was about lending deeper strategic substance to this special bilateral relationship. “Mauritius is also a bridge connecting India to the wider Global South. A decade ago, in 2015, on my first as the PM, I announced India’s SAGAR vision. SAGAR means Security and Growth for All in the Region. Today, Mauritius is still at the heart of this vision,” the Prime Minister said.
The key takeaway
Mauritius’s critical position in the western Indian Ocean earned it the sobriquet ‘Star and Key of the Indian Ocean’. That New Delhi is determined to strengthen this unique bilateral strategic partnership, with all its regional and global dimensions, was the key takeaway from PM Modi’s visit.
During the decade since his last visit, the geopolitics of the region has become more contested and demanding. More actors, including Europe, Russia, China, Gulf States and Turkey, are jostling for greater influence in the region. New Delhi’s success in Port Louis stems from being a reliable and benign partner in boosting Mauritius’s sovereignty.
PM Modi inaugurated more than 20 India-funded projects and announced new infrastructure projects aimed at strengthening democracy in the East African island nation. India-Mauritius relations have enjoyed political consensus, irrespective of the party in power in either country. Today Mauritius has a new government led by Navinchandra Ramgoolam of the Labour Party.
While India-Mauritius relations are expected to remain positive and stable, the latest visit was an opportunity for PM Modi to establish a personal connect with Ramgoolam and reassure him of India’s continuing support to the island nation.
