India upgrades SAGAR doctrine to MAHASAGAR, steps up maritime security ties with Mauritius to counter China’s Indian Ocean forays

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday upgraded New Delhi’s doctrine of engagement with the Indian Ocean nations from ‘SAGAR’ to ‘MAHASAGAR’ even as India moved to step up maritime security cooperation with Mauritius in order to counter China’s bid to expand its strategic footprints in the region.

Modi’s meeting with Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam of Mauritius saw India elevating its ties with the Indian Ocean nation to an “enhanced strategic partnership”. New Delhi and Port Louis also inked two key MoUs to expand bilateral maritime security cooperation.

India will continue to provide defence and maritime assets and equipment to Mauritius, apart from deploying ships and aircraft for joint maritime surveillance and hydrography surveys, according to a joint statement issued after the meeting between the two leaders. “Free, open, secure, and safe Indian Ocean is our common priority. We are committed to providing our full support for the security of the Exclusive Economic Zone of Mauritius,” Modi said after the meeting with Ramgoolam.

The two leaders witnessed the signing of eight pacts, including an agreement between the Reserve Bank of India and the Bank of Mauritius to promote the use of local currencies for cross-border transactions, a credit facility arrangement for the State Bank of India to extend a Line of Credit of Rs 487.6 crore to the borrower for financing the ‘Water Pipeline Replacement Project’ in Mauritius and an MoU between the Directorate of Enforcement of India and the Financial Crimes Commission of Mauritius for cooperation in combatting corruption and money-laundering. India will support the construction of a new parliament building in Mauritius. “This will be a gift to Mauritius from the Mother of Democracy,” Modi said.

Modi was on a two-day state visit to Port Louis on an invitation from Ramgoolam to be the guest of honour at the National Day celebration of Mauritius. He was honoured with the Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean (GCSK) – the highest civilian award of Mauritius. He dedicated the award to the 4.62 lakh indentured labourers, who were transported from India to Mauritius in the 19th century to work in the sugarcane plantations.

The prime minister recalled that he had announced his SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) doctrine of India’s engagement with the Indian Ocean nations during his first visit to Mauritius in 2015.

“Today, building upon this, I want to say that our vision for Global South will be – going beyond SAGAR – it will be MAHASAGAR, or Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions,” he said. “It shall encompass the ideas of trade for development, capacity building for sustainable growth, and mutual security for a shared future. Under this, we will extend cooperation through technology sharing, concessional loans and grants”.

The Indian Navy and the Mauritius Police Force signed a technical agreement on sharing white-shipping information and reciprocal protection of data. The pact will create a framework for the real-time sharing of information about commercial vessels sailing through the sea lanes in the region and for India’s support to Mauritius to enhance its maritime security and trade safety and its ability to prevent illegal activities and improve its maritime domain awareness.

Besides, the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services signed another MoU with the Prime Minister’s Office in Mauritius for cooperation on ocean observation, research, and information management. It will expand the scope for India’s support to maritime zone management in Mauritius through ocean modelling as well as for the provision of the latest technologies and support to capacity building, including in data management and remote sensing.

New Delhi and Port Louis also agreed to enhance the utilisation of the runway and jetty India built at Agaléga Island of Mauritius. The facility gave India a strategic edge against China in the Indian Ocean region. India will support Mauritius in setting up the National Maritime Information Sharing Centre to enhance maritime domain awareness.

New Delhi moved to step up maritime security cooperation with Port Louis amid increasing forays of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s warships and research vessels in the Indian Ocean region. Beijing made President Anura Kumar Dissanayake’s government in Colombo quietly let a one-year moratorium on operations of foreign research vessels in the Sri Lankan waters and port calls by them. The moratorium had been imposed in January 2024 to allay New Delhi’s concerns over the frequent visits by the Chinese PLA Navy’s spy ships in the Sri Lankan waters. China is also nudging Sri Lanka to sign a MoU on “ocean cooperation”.

Beijing of late also made President Mohammed Muizzu’s government in Malé agree to let it install Fish Aggregator Devices in the exclusive economic zone of the Maldives. New Delhi is concerned over the possibility of the installation of the devices being a ruse for the Chinese PLA Navy to collect hydrographic data and plant surveillance equipment in the Indian Ocean region.