New Delhi [India], June 9 : Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth touched down in the national capital Sunday morning to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi today.
The Mauritian PM was received at the airport by P Kumaran, the Officer on Special Duty (ER & DPA) division of the Ministry of External Affairs.
"Welcome to India! PM Pravind Jugnauth of Mauritius arrives to a warm welcome in New Delhi to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. OSD (ER & DPA) P. Kumaran received PM Jugnauth at the airport. India and Mauritius enjoy historically special ties and close maritime partnership," said official spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a post on X.
Leaders from neighbouring nations and the Indian Ocean region are poised to gather as distinguished guests at the oath-taking ceremony this evening.
This gathering underscores India's steadfast commitment to its 'Neighbourhood First' policy and the visionary 'SAGAR' initiative.
These leaders include heads of Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Mauritius, Nepal and Bhutan.
Of these distinguished guests, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and Vice President of Seychelles, Ahmed Afif arrived yesterday and the remaining have begun arriving today.
Narendra Modi will be sworn in as Prime Minister for the third consecutive term today at 7:15 pm.
Mauritius PM Jugnauth had earlier congratulated PM Modi on his "laudable victory for a historic third term."In a post on X, Mauritius PM said, "Congratulations Prime Minister Modi Ji @narendramodi on your laudable victory for a historic third term."
Further, he said, that under PM Modi's leadership India will continue to grow.
"Under your helm, the largest democracy will continue to achieve remarkable progress. Long live the Mauritius-India special relationship," said Mauritius PM.
India has close, longstanding ties with Mauritius, an island nation in the Western Indian Ocean. A key reason for the special ties is the fact that Indian origin people comprise nearly 70 per cent of the island's population of 1.2 million (28 per cent Creole, 3 per cent Sino-Mauritian, 1 per cent Franco-Mauritian).
Time and again India has highlighted that the development partnership with Mauritius and Global South is based on the priorities of receiving countries under its 'Neighbourhood First' policy.
President Droupadi Murmu visited Mauritius in March earlier this year where she was conferred with the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law by the University of Mauritius, in recognition of the 'profound depth' of the bilateral relationship between the two nations.
During President Murmu's visit to the neighbouring nation, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said that Mauritius is a very important component and segment of the priorities under India's neighbourhood policy.
"India-Mauritius partnership, it is anchored on the Mauritian priorities. So, India's development cooperation template, that we follow with any country, especially with countries of Global South, who are part of key priority area under Neighborhood First, under PM Modi's vision of SAGAR," said Kwatra.
"If you look at the projects of our development partnership, it is anchored first and foremost on the priorities of the receiving countries," he added.
In 2015, PM Modi embarked on a three-nation tour of Indian Ocean countries, during which after a visit to Seychelles he touched down Mauritius for a two-day visit.
PM Modi was welcomed warmly at the airport by the then Prime Minister of Mauritius Anerood Jugnauth.
Prime Minister Modi was also the chief guest at Mauritius' 47th National Day.
Alongside PM Modi, members of his council of ministers will also take their oath today.
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