New Delhi: India and Mauritius are natural partners to deal with traditional and non-traditional challenges in the Indian Ocean, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said as the two countries inaugurated a strategic airstrip and jetty in the island nation on Thursday.
PM Modi and his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth jointly inaugurated the airstrip, jetty and six development projects on Agaléga during a video conference.
Experts say that these facilities in Mauritius, along with the coastal surveillance radar system in the Seychelles, will enable India to enhance the monitoring of crucial sea lanes in the Indian Ocean. The development also comes at a time when the pro-China leadership of the Maldives has downgraded maritime security cooperation with India.
The expanded airstrip and jetty on Agaléga, one of the outer islands of Mauritius, will enhance the country’s ability to monitor its large exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and to counter piracy, terrorism and other illegal activities such as unregulated fishing.
“Many traditional and non-traditional challenges are emerging in the Indian Ocean region. All these challenges affect our economy. To deal with these, India and Mauritius are natural partners in the field of maritime security,” Modi said.
Modi added, “Our development partnerships are based on the priorities of Mauritius. Be it Mauritius’s needs related to EEZ security or health security, India has always respected the needs of Mauritius.”
The airstrip was extended from 1,300 to 3,000 meters to accommodate larger aircraft, while St James Jetty was expanded from 80 to 255 meters. Support facilities were built on the island, and all the work was financed entirely by Indian grants.
Mauritius will neither relinquish sovereignty over Agalega nor transform the island into a military base, Jugnauth assured his home crowd.
