Cabinet nod to Indo-Mauritius pact on cooperatives

The Cabinet on Thursday gave its clearance to a proposed inter-governmental agreement to be signed between India and Mauritius to extend bilateral co-operation for the development of cooperatives and related fields.

The agriculture ministry’s proposal in this regard was cleared in the Cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“The Cabinet has given its approval for signing of an inter-governmental agreement between India and Mauritius on cooperation in cooperatives and related fields,” an official statement said.

The agreement between the two countries will be valid for five years after which it will be automatically extended for another five years, it said.

The agreement provides for promoting cooperation through short- and medium-term programmes within the framework of the joint activities. A work plan will be drawn up through mutual agreement between the two parties to give effect to the objectives of the pact, it said.

The Mauritius government has shown keen interest in developing an institutional mechanism between the Cooperative Development Fund (CDF) set up by it and the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) so as to benefit from NCUI's experience in co-operative development.

A joint meet was held in September 2012 in India followed by a ministerial-level meeting in 2013 to discuss the possibility of signing an agreement between the two countries for exchange of legislation governing co-operatives, exchange of information and technicalities pertaining to the co-operative sector, establishment of institutional linkages and deputation of experts.

A delegation of two senior officials from the Mauritius government had visited co-operative organisations of India to explore possibilities of bilateral co-operation on cooperatives.

OTHER APPROVALS

• Approval for widening of the UP Gate to Dasna stretch of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. To be built at an estimated cost of Rs 1,983 crore, which will ease traffic congestion in the national capital
   
• Signing of a pact between markets regulator Sebi and Financial Services Regulatory Authority, Abu Dhabi, for mutual cooperation and technical assistance. It will promote further development of economic links and cooperation between the two signatories