Headlines
India inks five pacts with Mauritius, offers $500 mn credit
Port Louis, March 12
India signed five pacts
with Mauritius and also offered $500 million concessional line of credit
for key infrastructure projects as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his
Mauritian counterpart Anerood Jugnauth here on Wednesday.
The
five agreements signed between the two countries included one to tap the
rich marine resources of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius.
Modi,
who arrived here earlier in the day from Seychelles, said Jugnauth and
he had "discussed our shared interests in a safe and secure Indian Ocean
and a stable and prosperous Indian Ocean Region. We value the
leadership by Mauritius in this area".
He noted that India and Mauritius have built a relationship of "matchless strength and character".
Modi said that India would quickly build a petroleum storage and bunkering facility in Mauritius.
The
two countries had last year inked a MoU for Indian Oil Corporation
(IOC) and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) to set up
oil storage terminals in the island country.
The terminals are expected to boost trade in petroleum products in the region and improve the supply of oil in Mauritius.
The
project would also help in the re-export of petroleum products to the
different islands across the Indian Ocean as well as to Africa. The cost
of the project is estimated ton be over $130 million.
Mauritius' State Trading Corporation imports about 1.2 million tonnes of petroleum products, but has no storage tanks.
Modi
also offered support for setting up a second cyber city in that
country. India had helped to build the first cyber city in Mauritius a
decade ago. "Its remarkable success reflects the strategic foresight of
Mauritius in diversifying its economy," said Modi.
The MoU for
the improvement in sea and air transportation facilities at Agalega
Island of Mauritius provides for setting up and upgrade of
infrastructure for improving sea and air connectivity at the Outer
Island of Mauritius.
Modi said that the agreement on the
development of the Agalega Island "is a major stride in our cooperation
in infrastructure sector. It demonstrates the depth of our mutual
confidence".
He stated that the two sides would continue their
dialogue on revising the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention, which is
based on "preventing abuse of the Convention, while enabling Mauritius
to benefit fully from this arrangement".
"However, I have assured
Prime Minister (Jugnauth) that we will do nothing to harm this critical
sector of one of our strongest strategic partners in the world. I also
conveyed our deep appreciation for the support and cooperation offered
by Mauritius on information exchange on taxation," he said.
Negotiations
to amend the India-Mauritius tax treaty have been hanging fire for a
long time amid India's apprehensions that it is being misused to route
unaccounted money and evade taxes.
There have been allegations
of “round-trippingâ€, or the routing of domestic investments through
Mauritius to take advantage of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement
(DTAA) between the two countries. Mauritius is one of the top sources
of foreign direct investments (FDI) into India.
Jugnauth, in his
speech, said that the commissioning of the Indian-built Coast Guard Ship
“Barracuda†on Thursday would mark a new high in their cooperation.
Both
leaders discussed the setting up of a specialised cancer hospital in
Mauritius, discussed plans for water treatment, and to make Mauritius
into a cyber island, according to Jugnauth.
The CGS Barracuda is
the first naval ship to be built by India for a foreign nation. The
$58.5 million ship has been built by defence PSU Garden Reach
Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) in Kolkata.
The two
countries inked an MoU in the field of ocean economy that provides for
mutually beneficial cooperation for exploration and capacity development
in the field of marine resources, fisheries, green tourism, research
and development of ocean technology, exchange of experts and other
related activities", according to an official statement.
The
Indian prime minister noted that the agreement on cooperation in ocean
economy was an important step in the bilateral scientific and economic
partnership.
The two sides also inked an agreement for importing
Indian mangoes, for cultural cooperation during 2015-18 and on
cooperation in the field of traditional system of medicine and
homeopathy.
On Thursday, Modi will be chief guest at the Independence Day celebrations in Mauritius.
He
will address the Mauritian parliament on March 12 and will visit the
Ganga Talao and Appravasi Ghat, both of which are associated with the
arrival of Indian indentured labour to Mauritius. He will also visit the
Mahatma Gandhi Institute.