"Feels like homecoming": Jaishankar to Indian diaspora in Mauritius

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday addressed the Indian diaspora in Mauritius, terming the community a shining example of India's values such as peace, pluralism, shared progress and universal brotherhood.

Jaishankar, who arrived here in India's strategically key maritime neighbour in the Indian Ocean region on Sunday night from the Maldives on the last leg of his two-nation tour, met the members of the Indian community during an event and thanked them for keeping the faith and fervour alive in Mauritius.

In a tweet, he said: Feels like homecoming. Thank the vibrant Indian community for keeping our faith & fervour alive in Mauritius. A shining example of all that India stands for peace, pluralism, shared progress & universal brotherhood - values more relevant than ever today.

"I hail from the South. I am an MP from a Western state. I was born, educated and worked in the North. I represented all of India before the world," he wrote. "India is one. Never run down a region; never divide us," Jaishankar added.

Indian-origin people constitute nearly 70 per cent of the population of Mauritius. Their ancestors were sent there as indentured labourers during British rule.

India on Monday signed a landmark Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) with Mauritius, the first of its kind with an African nation, making the strategically-located country a launch-pad for business expansion into the huge African continent.