JOIN USIndia-Mauritius relations have received a boost with the two governments signing a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) during the recent visit of Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar to Port Louis. Under the CECPA, which is India’s first free-trade agreement with an African country, 310 Indian items and 615 Mauritian items will gain preferential access to each other’s markets.
India received Rs 56,000 crore foreign direct investment in 2018-19 from Mauritius, the second-largest source of its foreign flows. Bilateral trade was worth $1.2 billion that year. Both FDI and trade will be boosted by CECPA. However, CECPA’s value to India is not limited to the bilateral boost. Since Mauritius has signed pacts with several African countries, it would act as a gateway to further India’s trade and investment with the rest of Africa.
India has also agreed to provide Mauritius with a $100 million Line of Credit, which will ease Mauritius’ purchase of Indian defence equipment, a Dornier aircraft, and an advanced light helicopter on lease. Economic and defence bonds are poised to grow. Mauritius is strategically located in the middle of the Indian Ocean and lies just 2,000 km off the coast of Africa. A strong economic partnership could enable India to reap strategic dividend, too.
Yet, India should also be clear-eyed about its expectations of the CECPA and other agreements with Mauritius. This is because it will have to compete with China’s already robust presence in the country. Only a few weeks ago, China signed an FTA with the Mauritian government.
This will boost its already substantial economic presence and influence over Mauritius. The question is whether India will be able to fight off Chinese competition here. India is at an advantage on several scores; Mauritians are predominantly of Indian origin and there are strong historical and cultural bonds between the two countries.
But does India have the political will and the stamina to establish itself as Port Louis’ primary partner? India sees Mauritius as lying at the heart of its Indian Ocean policy and has been courting it assiduously. Indeed, it was on Mauritian soil that Prime Minister Narendra Modi first laid out India’s vision for an Indian Ocean community through the SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) initiative.
But laying out a vision must be followed up with action and India has repeatedly failed there. India took years to negotiate the FTA with Mauritius. India must be more agile and nimble if it is to realise its grand ambitions in the Indian Ocean Region.