The BRICS TimesMauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam praised India’s long-standing support, highlighting its crucial role in health, education, energy and more.
Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam on Thursday showered praise on India for its continued partnership, stressing that his nation has grown stronger with Indian expertise in several areas of national progress. He said Mauritius has drawn immense benefit from India’s cooperation in health, education, renewable energy, infrastructure and capacity building, which together have boosted living standards for Mauritians.
“The welcome we have received, I believe, no other Prime Minister has ever received and I am glad it is in your constituency. I can understand why you are elected in such huge numbers… Over the years, India through its various governments has accompanied Mauritius in its journey toward progress and development… We have benefited from India’s generous assistance and expertise in key sectors of national development including but not limited to health, education, capacity building, Prime Minister mentioned many of them renewable energy, this infrastructure, maritime security. India’s support, timely support, in these areas continues to make a tangible difference in improving the quality of life of Mauritians,” said Ramgoolam while addressing a joint press meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi.
Ramgoolam expressed gratitude to India for announcing a special economic package for Mauritius. He also recalled Prime Minister Modi’s earlier visit to Mauritius this year, when both nations raised bilateral ties to new heights with a joint document on enhanced strategic partnership.
“I’m also glad that what we had said in our programme many of these are being implemented… It’s a special economic package as the Prime Minister said in education, energy, infrastructure, health service and education. An ayurvedic centre will also be an exceptional one, thanks to your blessings Prime Minister and so we are moving on and the timing has enabled us to deliver tangible outcomes. It will allow us to deliver tangible outcomes. And we had the privilege as you know, welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for our 57th anniversary of independence. And during this visit, it is during this visit that Modi ji elevated our bilateral relations to a higher level with the Mauritius India joint document on enhanced strategic partnership.”
The Mauritius Prime Minister declared that relations between the two countries have now moved into a more forward-looking stage. He confirmed that discussions with PM Modi resulted in the signing of several important Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs).
“I’m glad now to affirm that our ties now have entered an even more dynamic and forward-looking phase. The obvious issue that we discuss includes the double taxation avoidance treaty which we think can be improved but we’ll see how things go and also for the training for the whole structure of training in our police force, it’s very important that we get this training. Our police do come to India for training but we want to look at the whole structure. At the heart of this visit were very constructive discussions but we also spoke of the surveillance of the vast exclusive economic zone after we acquired I mean we’ll go through parliament I think in a few days we need technical cooperation from India. We need the surveillance. We don’t have the capacity for surveillance and also we want to visit the Chagos to put our flag there, including Deigo Garcia.”
On his dialogue with PM Modi, Ramgoolam highlighted, “Beyond bilateral issues, Prime Minister Modi and I had held deep exchanges on pressing global challenges. As I said, we will also work on maritime security and climate change. These discussions have culminated in the signing of several memorandum of understanding in the fields of community development, power, energy, science and technology research, education, marine science and space research which will guide and strengthen our cooperation in the years ahead…. This visit has reaffirmed that the ties between Mauritius and India are not defined merely by history or geography but by shared values, a common vision and an enduring friendship.”
Akshay Didwaniya
Mayur Mohta
Pratik Agrawal
