Enhanced Strategic Partnership

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Mauritius on March 11-12. This was his second visit to the island country which is located in the Indian Ocean about 2000 Km off the African mainland. India has deep people-to-people ties with Mauritius because the majority of its nationals are descendants of Indian labourers who were taken there, initially by the French, but in much larger numbers by the British, beginning with the late 1830s.

After the abolition of slavery in Britain around 1832 the British planters in the colonies needed labour because the supply of slaves was no longer available. In order to fill the gap the British looked to India which they believed had an inexhaustible abundance of manpower. Hence, an indentured system of servitude was devised and Indians were duped and taken to the colonies including Mauritius. Truly, the only modern term which comes close to describing the indentured system is ‘legal human trafficking’.

Mauritius became independent in 1968. Since then, except for a period of two years the Prime Ministership of the country has remained in the hands of two families: the Ramgoolams and the Jugnauths. The first Prime Minister of Mauritius was Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam who remained in office till 1982. He was succeeded by Anerood Jugnauth whose first term as Prime Minister lasted till 1995. Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam and Anerood Jugnauth’s sons also took to politics and have become Mauritius’s Prime Ministers.

When Modi paid his first visit to Mauritius in March 2015 Anerood Jugnauth was Prime Minister. Last year, Ramgoolam’s son Navin, who had in 1995 defeated Anerood and replaced him, defeated his son Pravind who was Prime Minister and took over the leadership of the country. Both the Ramgoolams and the Jugnauths want close ties with India but do not want their country to be denied the advantages which come from building an economic and commercial relationship with China. On their part the Chinese are becoming increasingly active in the Indian Ocean region both strategically and economically. Hence, the challenge before India is to ensure that its close ties with Mauritius continue.

Naturally, ethnic and cultural affinities offer India some advantages but the question is if they are sufficient to ward off the Chinese challenge. This is especially because the horizons of the younger generation of Mauritians of Indian descent have gone beyond India. They may be rooted to Indian spiritual traditions but, like young people all over the world, they are mobile and not limited by geographies. They go where their professions and aptitudes take them. It was therefore worthwhile for India to emphasise as the Modi-Navin Ramgoolam joint statement mentioned “Strengthen diaspora engagement through Know India Programme, Connecting Roots, Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, and scholarships and cooperate on research related to Girmitya’s legacy and documentation of their contribution in strengthening people to people ties; Promote tourism and cultural exchanges through visits to Char Dham and Ramayana trail as well as ancient places of religious worship in India” but the younger Maurtians are more likely to pay attention to the advantages India has to offer in the economic sphere and in digital technology. In the latter area India diplomats are no doubt aware that China is rivalling the United States. Surely, the Mauritians are also aware of this and would not give up on digital training that China may offer. It is therefore essential that India prepares imaginative educational packages which would attract current Mauritian students to India as those Mauritians were attracted in the 1960s and 1970s to come to India for higher education.

For this writer the most important part of the Modi-Ramgoolam joint statement relates to defence and security. As noted earlier Mauritius is a lynchpin for India to safeguard and promote its security interests in the Indian Ocean area. The section on defence and security stated inter alia “The two leaders noted that defence and maritime security cooperation remains an important pillar of bilateral relations and close cooperation in this domain has achieved a strategic dimension and benefited both countries immensely. They further agreed that Mauritius and India, having a shared commitment to ensure a free, open, safe and secure Indian Ocean Region, are natural partners in the region and reiterated their resolve to work closely in countering maritime challenges and safeguarding the larger strategic interests in the region.

The Prime Minister of Mauritius conveyed his appreciation to India for its unwavering support to Mauritius in protecting its vast Exclusive Economic Zone… Reiterating their collective desire to counter growing threats and challenges in the region, the leaders resolved to: Continue cooperation on provisioning of defence and maritime assets and equipment, as per needs and priorities of Mauritius; Enhance maritime cooperation through increased deployment of ships and aircraft for joint maritime surveillance and hydrography surveys; Deepen cooperation towards securing EEZ of Mauritius, including through enhanced utilisation of newly built runway and jetty at Agalega.

The fact is that Navin Ramgoolam was not too enthusiastic about India building defence related infrastructure in Agalega during his earlier tenure as Prime Minister. Pravind Jugnauth was more responsive. He saw the advantages of linking up with India in a tighter strategic embrace. Therefore, he allowed the construction of a runway and a jetty on the island. It now remains to be seen if the Enhanced Strategic Partnership that the two countries have decided on during Modi’s trip results in removing the inhibitions that Ramgoolam earlier had on Agalega.

That would be the true test of the India-Mauritius relationship. Naturally, this does not mean that the developmental and other aspects should be ignored.