Indian development projects touch lives of common people in Mauritius: Foreign Secretary Kwatra

New Delhi: Stating that Indian development projects touch the lives of common people in Mauritius, Foreign Secretary, Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Wednesday stressed that the island nation is one of the most important segments of New Delhi’s priorities under its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.

Addressing a special briefing on Wednesday on President Droupadi Murmu's trip to the island nation for its National Day celebrations, Foreign Secretary Kwatra said the visit reflects the growing expanse of the long-standing and trusted partnership between India and Mauritius.

"The government of India is implementing 96 small community development projects across Mauritius and... Honorable President inaugurated 14 of them in a ceremony with the Mauritian Prime Minister... These projects touch the lives of common people in various areas," he said.

The Foreign Secretary further highlighted that India is also constructing a new civil services college to train the Public Service Officers of Mauritius, a renal transplant unit, one mediclinic and two health centres.

Several important MoUs were also exchanged in the presence of President Murmu and PM Pravind Jugnauth, which capture various segments of bilateral cooperation across different domains, such as public administration, avoidance of double taxation, financial services, and good governance.

"Our development partnership, first and foremost, is anchored on the priorities of the receiving country. So the priorities of the government of Mauritius are the driving feature of our cooperation projects," he said in response to a question.

The Foreign Secretary emphasised that India's development cooperation template with any country -- particularly those falling under ‘Global South’, ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and PM Modi's SAGAR vision -- is anchored on the priorities of the receiving country.

In her first visit to Mauritius, President Murmu announced India's decision to supply 200 electric buses to the nation and redevelopment of the Ganga Talao area to transform the sacred site into a religious, cultural, and tourist hub.

In a gesture of goodwill, she also announced India's decision to approve a special provision, making the seventh-generation Indian-origin Mauritians eligible for the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Card.

"The visit reinforces the continuing positive momentum and trends in our special relationship and it also signals our shared and strong commitment to further intensify our relations with this important partner," Foreign Secretary Kwatra said.

India has close, long-standing relations with Mauritius owing to historic, demographic, and cultural reasons, and people of Indian origin comprise nearly 70 per cent of the island's population of 1.2 million.