New Delhi [India], March 8 (ANI): India has supported Mauritius in its stance on its sovereignty over Chagos archipelago and this is in keeping with country’s long-standing position with regard to decolonization and support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Saturday.
Addressing a special press conference on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Mauritius beginning March 11, the Foreign Secretary said that several memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) will be exchanged, including on trade and promoting SMEs between the two countries.
Answering queries, he said there is already a lot that India has accomplished with Mauritius in terms of contributing to its maritime safety and security-related issues.
“During the current visit, we expect to sign a technical agreement on sharing white-shipping information between the Indian Navy and Mauritius authorities. It will further enhance maritime security of Mauritius, safety of its trading corridors, and enhance regional cooperation in real-time sharing of data. It will enable Indian authorities and Mauritius authorities to cooperate in preventing illegal activities, improve Mauritius’ maritime domain awareness in the region,” Misri said.
“This will involve not just the Indian Navy, but also the Mauritius police force in an effort to combat these kinds of activities,” he added.
There is an allied MOU that will be signed between the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) with the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Prime Minister’s office from the Mauritius side, which also establishes a comprehensive framework for cooperation on ocean observation, research and information management, and enhancing maritime zone management in Mauritius.
“This will involve a lot of technical activities such as ocean modeling and focus on capacity building and training in this particular area. There will be engagement on the latest technologies, collaboration on best practices, data management, remote sensing, etc. We will provide details of this once this is done between the two sides,” Misri said.
He said a memorandum of understanding that is proposed to be concluded between the Enforcement Directorate and the Financial Crimes Commission of Mauritius. It essentially aims at providing intelligence and technical assistance cooperation on anti-corruption and anti-money laundering activities and it will also help in identifying emerging trends, knowledge exchange, and adapting to new methodologies in this particular area.
Answering another query, he said India has provided Mauritius with a Coast Guard ship which was provided through a grant as well as loan assistance, the CGS Barracuda, and then through a soft loan, another platform which is the CGS Victory.
“And in addition, there is a whole bunch of fast interceptor craft that were also provided to Mauritius. We have been providing them with these kinds of assets and if there is a need felt for more to be done in this regard, we would be ready to examine those proposals as well,” Misri said.
Misri said the consolidated portfolio of development assistance to Mauritius just in the last decade is nearly USD 1.1 billion.
“Of this, about USD 729 million is through lines of credit and nearly USD 427 million is through outright grant assistance. The bouquet of projects that has been executed contains everything from three phases of the Metro Express. There is a scheme under which e-tablets were provided for school children, firefighting pumps, medical clinics, solar projects…there is a very wide spectrum of development cooperation related projects that has been done, and we are continuing to work on other projects now in the run-up to the visit as well,” Misri added.
Answering a query on Chagos archipelago, he said India continues to support Mauritius in its efforts to reach a mutually satisfactory and mutually beneficial deal with its interlocutors on the issue.
“We have supported Mauritius in its stance on its sovereignty over Chagos. And this is obviously in keeping with our longstanding position with regard to decolonization and support for sovereignty and territorial integrity of our other countries. And its only fitting for us to articulate this support for partners such as Mauritius,” Misri said.
“You are also aware that for quite some time there have been extensive discussions and negotiations that were held between Mauritius and the UK last year. The previous government in Mauritius was also involved with these negotiations, and certain arrangement had been arrived at. Naturally, after a new government has taken power in Mauritius, they have taken a relook at some of the provisions…
“Nevertheless, it is something that has continued to be discussed between Mauritius and the UK, and we understand that they have engaged each other quite intensively and have also, perhaps, arrived at a mutually acceptable deal on the subject. The details are really for them to agree on,” he added.
Misri said additional element is that there has been a change in government in the United States as well which is in some senses also associated or affected by these discussions.
“Again, these are issues to be resolved between the concerned parties. We, for our part, have continued to support Mauritius and will continue to do so. I would imagine that during the visit there will be an opportunity perhaps for the Mauritius side to update us on any issues that might still be outstanding if there are any issues by that time,” Misri said.
Answering a query on Agalega islands, Misri said it was on the previous visit of the Prime Minister in 2015 that an MoU had been signed on the improvement of facilities on the island for sea and air connectivity.
“And pursuant to that MOU, these facilities were created on the island and last year in February the facilities were jointly inaugurated by the Prime Ministers of the two countries. The facilities have contributed to enhancing connectivity between the island and mainland Mauritius,” he said.
Misri said creation of these facilities that has allowed this kind of early and very quick response to take place, and to bring real relief to people who were affected by a natural disaster.
These facilities have also been assisting Mauritius in its maritime surveillance and patrolling of its vast Exclusive Economic Zone and in safeguarding the assets of its blue economy ecosystem from traditional and non-traditional maritime challenges.
“As you are aware, this is a region that is particularly beset by challenges of various kinds such as piracy, drug trafficking, human trafficking, etc. So, this is a facility which I think at the end of the day has already proven its worth and will continue to prove its worth for Mauritius,” Misri said.
Answering a query on tariffs, he said there is perhaps likely to be a general discussion on how different countries can react to this new narrative related to trade and tariffs that we see currently hitting the headlines.
“Obviously, there is no one-size-fits-all solution that is possible on this. Different measures are being taken for different countries and different countries are going to be impacted differently depending on the makeup of their economies, their current sort of situation in terms of trade. So, I would imagine that there would be a certain amount of discussion on this particular issue. Maybe we will be able to brief you after the visit on the content of these discussions and any understandings that might have been reached,” he said. (ANI)
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