Focus: GS-II International Relations
Why in news?
Indian Prime Minister and Prime Minister of Mauritius jointly inaugurated the new Supreme Court building in Mauritius through video conference.
Details
- The building is the first India assisted infrastructure project within the capital city of Port Louis to be inaugurated after the Covid pandemic.
- The landmark project has been completed with grant assistance of more than US $ 25 million from the Government of India.
- Prime Minister of India said that development cooperation with Mauritius is at the heart of India’s approach to development partnerships, stressing that India’s development cooperation does not come with any conditions, nor is it influenced by any political or commercial considerations.
- India’s core principle for development cooperation is respect for our partners and the central motivation is sharing of our development lessons.
India–Mauritius relations
- India–Mauritius relations date back to 1730, diplomatic relations were established in 1948, before Mauritius became independent state.
- The cultural affinities and long historical ties between the two nations have contributed to strong and cordial relations between the two nations.
- More than 68% of the Mauritian population are of Indian origin, most commonly known as Indo-Mauritians.
- India and Mauritius co-operate in combating piracy, which has emerged as a major threat in the Indian Ocean region and Mauritius supports India’s stance against terrorism.
- From the 1820s, Indian workers started coming into Mauritius to work on sugar plantations.
- In the 1830s, when slavery was abolished by the British Parliament, large numbers of Indian workers began to be brought into Mauritius as indentured labourers.
- Novermber 2nd is observed as ‘Aapravasi Day’ to mark the ship named ‘Atlas’ docking in Mauritius in1834 carrying the first batch of Indian indentured labourers
