Thaindian News

New Delhi, Feb 7 (IANS) As a long-standing partner of Mauritius in its development, India Tuesday announced a new economic package of a $250 million line of credit and a $20 million grant for the island-nation. The package was unveiled during bilateral talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting Mauritian Premier Navinchandra Ramgoolam here.

During their talks focusing on furthering their already robust bilateral relations, India and Mauritius also signed five agreements in the fields of eduction, textiles, sports and youth affairs, science and technology and culture.

The two sides also reviewed their double taxation avoidance convention, insisting that both nations have an interest in ensuring it is not misused, Manmohan Singh said in a atatement after their talks.

“India has been a long-standing development partner of Mauritius. I was happy to inform the (Mauritian) prime minister that the government of India will provide a new economic package to Mauritius consisting of a Line of Credit of $250 million and a grant of $20 million,” Manmohan Singh said.

“A part of this grant will be used to establish a hybrid planetarium at the Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre in Mauritius,” he added.

“We reviewed the status of implementation of the India-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Convention. Both India and Mauritius have a mutual interest in ensuring that there is no misuse of the convention,” Manmohan Singh said.

The Indian prime minister noted that the Joint Working Group on the convention has resumed its work and held a meeting in Port Louis in December 2011.

“We have directed our officials to continue their work towards finding a mutually acceptable and satisfactory solution to the issues that concern us at the earliest,” he added.

Manmohan Singh said defence and security cooperation is one of the key pillars of the India-Mauritius bilateral relationship and that the two nations have common security interests.

“India will continue to support Mauritius in ensuring the security and sovereignty of its land and maritime territory,” he declared.

“We have agreed to strengthen our cooperation to address the growing menace of piracy which has emerged as a major security and developmental challenge for all littoral states of the Indian Ocean. A stable and peaceful Indian Ocean is an objective we both share,” he said.

In this context, the prime minister said, the two sides have agreed that India, as current chair of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), and Mauritius, as the host for its secretariat, should work together to reinvigorate this important initiative.

He noted that he had completed a “very fruitful and wide-ranging discussions aimed at further expanding the India-Mauritius partnership” with Ramgoolam, whom the Indian prime minister described as “a very special dear friend of India and a distinguished member of the Indian diaspora”.

Recalling that relations between India and Mauritius are rooted in strong historical and cultural links, Manmohan Singh also noted that over the years, the relations have been transformed into “a modern, dynamic, comprehensive and mutually beneficial” partnership that encompasses active cooperation in a wide spectrum of spheres.

He also noted that the two nations have agreed that the next meeting of the India-Mauritius Joint Commission on Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation will be held later this year to identify new measures to promote cooperation in key areas.

“We have had a complete meeting of minds on key regional and global issues. We deeply appreciate Mauritius’ consistent and strong support for India’s candidature as a permanent member of an expanded and reformed United Nations Security Council,” Manmohan Singh said, concluding that Ramgoolam’s visit has imparted “a fresh impetus” to efforts to further strengthen the excellent bilateral relations.