Context: 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has embarked on a two-day State visit to Mauritius, marking his second visit since 2015. 

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• During the visit, he will be the Chief Guest at Mauritius’ National Day Celebrations on March 12.
• This visit offers an opportunity for the PM of India to strengthen ties with the newly elected Mauritian government led by Navinchandra Ramgoolam.

Major Areas of Emphasis During the Visit

• Mauritius opened diplomatic relations with India in 1948, soon after India became independent. 

• In March 2015, India and Mauritius signed a deal to upgrade transport infrastructure in Agaléga Island while PM Modi visited Mauritius. 
• Agaléga, situated 1,100 km off the coast of Mauritius towards the north, is an integral part of India's Indian Ocean maritime strategy. 
• India and Mauritius opened up infrastructure projects at Agaléga in February 2024, including a jetty and an airstrip. 

Defence: 

• The two countries are likely to sign a technical cooperation agreement on the sharing of white-shipping information between the Indian Navy and Mauritian authorities. 
• This will enhance maritime security and raise cooperation in the sharing of real-time data.

Indian Development Projects: 

• India has made substantial contributions to the development of Mauritius, with more than $1.1 billion in aid in the past decade, including grants and lines of credit. 
• Some of the notable projects are the three stages of the Metro Express and an MoU signed in 2022 to implement 96 small projects in Mauritius.

First Responder during Crises: 

• India has always been the first responder during Mauritius' crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 Wakashio oil spill, and the 2024 cyclone.

Trade: 

• India-Mauritius bilateral trade has expanded rapidly over the past few years, reaching $554 million in 2022-23. 
• India is Mauritius' largest trading partner and the second-largest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India in 2023-24. 
• The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement of 2021 is a landmark, being India's first trade agreement with an African nation.
• At present, 11 Indian PSUs are in Mauritius, including Bank of Baroda, Life Insurance Corporation, and the National Building and Construction Company Ltd (NBCC).
• The favorable Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between India and Mauritius also facilitates foreign investment into India.

Space Cooperation: 

• In 1986, set up a Telemetry, Tracking, and Telecommand (TTC) station for satellites. 
• In November 2023, ISRO, India's space agency, and Mauritius signed an MoU to make a joint satellite.

Capacity Building: 

• Mauritius is one of the largest recipients of India's Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, with close to 4,940 Mauritians having undergone ITEC training since 2002. 
• Also, approximately 2,300 Indian students are presently studying in Mauritius.

Maritime Security:

• The Colombo Security Conclave brings together India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Mauritius and Bangladesh to work together to make this ocean space safe and secure. 
• Agaléga to serve as a joint surveillance facility and given Mauritius access to the Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in Gurugram, India, to significantly advance domain awareness in its vast EEZ. 

Cultural Ties and Historical Contributions: 

• Nearly 70% of the population of Mauritius is of Indian origin, being the descendants of Indian indentured labour who were brought by the colonial rulers to work on sugar plantations. 
• About 50% trace their ancestry to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and still speak the Bhojpuri dialect.

Importance of Mauritius to India

• Mauritius, which is geographically placed in the western Indian Ocean, is of considerable strategic importance to India, mostly because of the massive population of Indian origin, amounting to close to 70% of the island's 1.2 million people. 
• The bilateral relations between India and Mauritius go back to the colonial period when Indians were brought to the island as laborers during both the French and British periods of domination. 
• Under French domination in the 1700s, Indians were imported as artisans and masons from the Puducherry area. 
• Afterwards, under British control, about half a million Indian indentured labourers came to Mauritius between 1834 and the early 1900s, with many settling on the island.