Modi is travelling to Mauritius to be present at the island nation’s national-day celebrations as the chief guest on March 12. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Saturday that the two sides will sign several agreements in the fields of capacity building, bilateral trade, tackling cross-border financial crimes and promoting small and medium enterprises.
In the last 10 years, the relationship has deepened significantly, he said. A contingent of Indian defence forces will participate in the national-day celebrations of Mauritius, along with a ship from the Indian Navy. Describing Mauritius as a close maritime neighbour, Misri said India has been privileged to be a preferred development partner for the island nation.
A key reason for the special ties is the fact that Indian-origin people comprise nearly 70 per cent of the island nation’s population of 1.2 million (12 lakh). Since 2005, India has been among the largest trading partners of Mauritius. For the FY 2023-24 Indian exports to Mauritius was USD 778.03 mn, Mauritian exports to India was USD 73.10 mn and total trade was USD 851.13 mn. Trade has grown in the last 18 years, from USD 206.76 million in 2005-06 to USD 851.13 million in 2023-24, according to the Indian High Commission (Mauritius) brief on bilateral relations.
Cumulative FDI worth USD 175 billion has come from Mauritius to India since 2000 (25% of total FDI inflows into India), thanks largely to the bilateral Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC). Since the signing of the DTAC amendment in 2016, FDI inflows from Mauritius have dropped from USD 15.72 bn in 2016-17 to USD 6.13 bn in 2022-23, with Mauritius becoming India’s third largest source of FDI. FDI equity inflows from Mauritius to India for the period April–March (FY 2023-24) amounted to USD 7.97 billion, and USD 3.21 billion for 2024-25 (April-June) making it the second largest source of FDI into India for the FY 2023-24, after Singapore, according to the brief.
Mauritius and India signed the CECPA on 22 February 2021, during the visit of EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar after nearly 15 years of negotiations. It came into force on 1 April 2021 and is the first trade agreement signed by India with an African country.
