Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Mauritius for a two-day visit. He will be the chief guest at Mauritius' National Day celebrations on 12th March. The visit aims to strengthen bilateral ties.
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00:00The Prime Minister in Mauritius at this point in time, take a look at these pictures coming
00:07in.
00:08Remember, the Prime Minister is in Mauritius.
00:11This is a two-day visit, the national celebrations of Mauritius that is being held tomorrow,
00:17which is the 12th of March.
00:19India and Mauritius have uniquely close cooperation in maritime security, development partnership,
00:25capacity building and close people to people ties.
00:29It has among the largest trading partners of Mauritius.
00:33Mauritius was the second largest source of FDI into India for 2023-2024 after Singapore.
00:40Mauritius and India signed a comprehensive economic cooperation and partnership agreement
00:45in February 2021 after 15 years of negotiation.
00:50The Prime Minister is there for two days in fact, starting today.
00:57He has spoken about it as well, about the deep mutual trust of the countries, a shared
01:02belief in the values of democracy and celebration of our diversity.
01:09Pictures in fact right now are of the Prime Minister live on your screens right now, meeting
01:13with the officials and delegates in Mauritius at this point in time.
01:22Prime Minister Modi has said that his visit...
02:22All right, the Prime Minister is in Mauritius in these pictures, the Prime Minister being
02:33given a guard of honour as you can see.
02:36He is the chief guest in the national celebrations of Mauritius.
02:40He has spoken about the visit and the significance of it.
02:44Now meeting with the officials in Mauritius at this point in time, these are pictures
02:48coming in live on your screens right now.
02:52He is in the island nation and he is going to be there for two days at the invitation
02:56of Prime Minister Navi Chandra Ram Gulam, primarily to grace the national day celebrations
03:02of Mauritius.
03:04In his departure statement, the Prime Minister said, he was looking forward to engaging with
03:08the leadership of Mauritius to elevate our partnership, quote-unquote, in all its facets
03:14and strengthen our enduring friendship for the progress and prosperity of our peoples.
03:20A contingent of the Indian Armed Forces will be participating in the celebration along
03:24with a warship of the Indian Navy and the Akash Ganga skydiving team of the Indian Air
03:30Force.
03:31The Prime Minister has underscored the importance of deep mutual trust, a shared belief in the
03:36value system of democracy and celebration of India and Mauritius' diversity.
03:42Both countries are extremely diverse, is what the Prime Minister has stressed upon.
03:46He has spoken about the fact that it is important to build on the foundations of the past and
03:52open a new and bright chapter in India and Mauritius' relationship, is what the Prime
03:58Minister has said.
04:15These are, in fact, from Mauritius at this point in time.
04:17The Prime Minister is on a two-day visit.
04:20On your screens right now, a welcome being given to Prime Minister Gowda Warner there
04:24for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
04:26He has spoken about the opportunity to engage with Mauritius' leadership to elevate, he
04:31said, our partnership in all facets and strengthen our enduring friendship.
04:35Geeta Mohana, Foreign Affairs Editor, getting in more details on that story.
04:39Geeta, talk to us about what is expected in the next two days, including today.
04:45Well, today is primarily going to be all about him visiting the Botanical Garden, talking
04:53to or engaging some of the important leadership, including meeting with the Prime Minister
05:00and a community event, as is always part of the Prime Minister's visit.
05:06He does meet with the entire fora, so there is going to be a community event.
05:10But it's tomorrow that the delegation level talks and the official meetings are going
05:14to take place, wherein the two sides are likely to sign agreements in the fields of capacity
05:20building, bilateral trade, tackling cross-border financial crimes, and promoting small and
05:27medium enterprises.
05:28So these are very important aspects of cooperation that the two leaders are looking at.
05:34In his departure statement, he also said and focused on the importance of maritime cooperation
05:42to do with the Indian Ocean and India's cyber diplomacy, and in that the Indian National
05:49Center for Ocean Information Services and Mauritius Prime Minister's Office will sign
05:56a memorandum of understanding to create a framework for cooperating in the maritime
06:02zone management and ocean observation research.
06:05Again, Mauritius is geostrategically very critically placed and is very important for
06:11India.
06:12It is a very important island nation for all maritime and strategic purposes, and this
06:22certainly will create the space for both sides to really cooperate and conduct research on
06:30the ocean front.
06:32That is what was told to us, to the media, by Foreign Secretary Mr. Mistry ahead of the
06:39departure, the media briefing that he held on Prime Minister's visit.
06:44The Enforcement Directorate and Financial Crime Commission of Mauritius will also be
06:49signing an MOU on combating financial crimes.
06:53Now, we do know that a lot of the money is routed through Mauritius when it comes to
07:00financial crimes and evading taxes in India, and the two countries have been cooperating
07:06and ensuring that they combat financial crimes for a while now.
07:10But this will be formalization through an MOU between the PD and its respective commission
07:18on the other side in Mauritius.
07:21So these are various important aspects that will be covered.
07:24There are a lot of agreements that aim to look at enhancing technical cooperation and
07:31assistance in case of laundering and money laundering related crimes.
07:36So, again, a very important aspect when it comes to India and Mauritius.
07:41So this is a very important visit, but it also is a visit where India is trying to send
07:48out a message of how it is actually important to Mauritius by the fact that Prime Minister
07:55Narendra Modi is there.
07:56This is not his first visit, but he is there to attend and to party in the National Day
08:02celebration for which he has been invited as a chief guest.