EAM Jaishankar meets Mauritius envoy to UN; discusses a range of global issues

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met the Permanent Representative of Mauritius to the United Nations Jagdish Koonjul, on Monday.

EAM Jaishankar appreciated the discussions held with him on a range of global issues.

“Glad to meet Ambassador Jagdish Koonjul of Mauritius. Appreciated our discussions on a range of global issues,” Jaishankar said in a post shared on X.

India has close, longstanding relations with Mauritius, an island nation in the Western Indian Ocean, owing to historic, demographic and cultural reasons.

A key reason for the special ties is the fact that Indian-origin people comprise nearly 70% of the island’s population of 1.2 million.

Earlier in March, President Droupadi Murmu oversaw the signing of four Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between India and Mauritius to enhance cooperation in the financial services sector, information sharing, and capacity building to combat corruption and money laundering.

Also, an MoU was signed between the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) of India and the Public Service Commission of Mauritius to share experiences and expertise in public services recruitment.

Both countries also agreed on a protocol to amend the India-Mauritius Double Tax Avoidance Agreement, making it compliant with the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Minimum Standards.

President Murmu and the Mauritian PM also virtually inaugurated 14 community development projects that are to be implemented with monetary assistance from India.

India has traditionally been the ‘first responder’ for Mauritius in times of crisis, including during the recent Covid-19 and Wakashio oil-spill crises. On Mauritius’ request, India supplied 13 tonnes of medicines (including 0.5 million tablets of HCQ), 10 tonnes of Ayurvedic medicines and an Indian Rapid Response Medical Team to help combat Covid in April-May 2020.

Since 2005, India has been among the largest trading partners of Mauritius. For the FY 2022-2023, Indian exports to Mauritius was USD 462.69 mn, Mauritian exports to India was USD 91.50 mn and Total trade was USD 554.19 mn.