Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to visit Mauritius to further advance bilateral relations

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will visit Mauritius from December 20 for three days to strengthen bilateral ties between India and Mauritius. This marks the first high-level engagement since Dr. Navinchandra Ramgoolam assumed office as Prime Minister of Mauritius for the third time.

New Delhi: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will be embarking on a 3-day visit to Mauritius from December 20 to further advance the bilateral relations between the two countries. This would be the first high-level bilateral engagement between the two traditional partners after Dr Navinchandra Ramgoolam became the prime minister of Mauritius for the third time last month. 

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said that this visit is a continuation of the regular high-level exchanges between the two countries and “reflects the priority India attaches to its relation with Mauritius under its Vision SAGAR, Africa Forward policy and commitment to Global South.”

It is pertinent to mention here that the two countries' age-old ties are rooted in shared history, culture and tradition and encompass cooperation across a number of areas. 

“The visit will be an opportunity to further advance our bilateral ties with Mauritius,” an official statement said.

Earlier this year in July, India’s foreign minister S Jaishankar made a two-day visit to Mauritius and met the then Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth and reaffirmed New Delhi’s consistent and continued support to Port Louis in its quest for progress and prosperity.

During his visit, a total of 12 India-funded High Impact Community Development Projects was inaugurated, and the Memorandum of Understandings on education, culture, digitisation of Immigration Archives and collaboration in the field of space and innovation was also signed.

Jaishankar and Jugnauth had also handed over Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cards to seventh-generation Indian-origin people in Mauritius. 

It should also be noted that the two countries have special ties since Indian-origin people comprise nearly 70 per cent of the island’s population of 1.2 million.

Since 2005, India has been among the largest trading partners of Mauritius. In 2022-2023, Indian exports to Mauritius stood at USD 462.69 million while the Mauritian exports to India was USD 91.50 million.