India-assisted projects for Mauritius maritime
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Mauritius, H.E. Mr Pravind Jugnauth jointly inaugurated the new Airstrip and St. James Jetty along with six community development projects at the Agalega Island in Mauritius via video conferencing on February 29, 2024.
The new airstrip and jetty facility in Agalega, Mauritius has entirely been funded by India. The airstrip improves connectivity between the northern and southern parts of Mauritius and enhances the country's capabilities in marine surveillance and security. This reinforces India's commitment to its 'Neighbourhood First' Policy and SAGAR vision of Indian Ocean security. PM Modi emphasised that owing to many traditional and non-traditional challenges emerging in the Indian Ocean region, India and Mauritius are natural partners and are working together to ensure security, prosperity, and stability in the region with the help of multiple ongoing collaborations, including monitoring in the Exclusive Economic Zone, joint patrolling, hydrography, disaster relief, etc.
The projects' inauguration follows the recent launch of UPI and RuPay Card services in Mauritius by the two leaders on 12 February 2024. The RuPay card co-branded with Mauritius' national payment switch, the MoCAS, is set to be designated as the domestic card in Mauritius.
In the last 10 years, India has extended a credit line of 1,000 million USD along with 400 million USD worth of assistance to Mauritius. It has assisted in the development of metro rail lines, community development projects, social housing, ENT Hospital, Civil Service College, and sports complexes infrastructures in Mauritius, reflecting India’s leading role in fostering development in partner nations. Mauritius is also the first nation to adopt the ‘Jan Aushadhi Scheme’ which allows the sourcing of about 250 high-quality medicines from the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Bureau of India, thereby benefiting the people of Mauritius at large and imparting further momentum to the partnership between the two countries.
India and Mauritius have had longstanding and close relations owing to demographic, historical, and cultural reasons. Indian-origin people comprise nearly 70% of the island's population, including the PM of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth. PM Jugnauth in his speech during inauguration also mentioned the huge role of the Indian diaspora in the country’s development.
Even though a video meeting, this was the national leader's fifth meeting in the last 6 months, underscoring the growing closeness between the countries. Amidst India’s standoff with the Maldives, Mauritius is also looking to attract more Indian tourists with concentrated campaigns and building on the visa on-arrival for Indians.
