External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be an official visit to Mauritius from July 16-17, during which he will hold meetings with Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth and several other dignitaries, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release on Monday.
This comes around a month after PM Jugnauth visited India for the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with his new cabinet and Council of Ministers.
The visit marks one of Jaishankar’s first bilateral engagements following his re-appointment.
EAM had previously visited Mauritius in February 2021.
During the visit, EAM will call on the Mauritius PM, Pravind Jugnauth and will hold bilateral meetings with other senior ministers of the Government of Mauritius.
In addition, he will engage with other prominent Mauritian leaders. The visit will provide an opportunity for both sides to comprehensively take stock of various facets of the bilateral relationship.
“The visit underscores the importance of the India Mauritius relationship, and is a reflection of India’s ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’, Vision SAGAR, and commitment to the Global South. It also reaffirms the continued commitment of both countries to strengthen further the multi-dimensional bilateral relationship and deepen close people-to-people ties,” the MEA stated.
Last month, Jaishankar was on an official visit to Sri Lanka. During this, he held meetings with the leadership of Sri Lanka on wide-ranging issues of the partnership between the two countries. It was his first visit as EAM after being reappointed.
The Foreign Minister also represented India at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Kazakhstan and delivered the remarks on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India enjoys close and longstanding relations with Mauritius, an island nation in the Western Indian Ocean, owing to historic, demographic and cultural reasons, as per MEA.
A key reason for the special ties is the fact that Indian origin people comprise nearly 70 per cent of the island’s population of 1.2 million
The leadership of the two countries enjoys a high level of trust and mutual understanding, which is reflected in their continued high-level political engagement. These special ties have also resulted in uniquely close cooperation in maritime security, development partnerships, capacity-building, cooperation in international forums, and bilateral technical assistance through deputation of Indian experts to Mauritius government.
(ANI)