Swaraj meets top leadership of Mauritius, discusses bilateral ties

India and Mauritius today discussed measures to further strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation in the field of maritime security as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held talks with the country's top leadership.

Swaraj, who was here to attend the 11th World Hindi Conference, called on Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and discussed bilateral ties.

"Connecting with a maritime neighbour! EAM @SushmaSwaraj called on Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth. Discussed further deepening our special ties," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

PM Jugnauth hosted a banquet lunch in honour Swaraj which was attended by prominent dignitaries from both sides.

Swaraj also met the country's Opposition leader Xavier Luc Duval, former prime ministers Navinchandra Ramgoolam and Paul Berenger on the sidelines of the three-day World Hindi Conference that began here yesterday.

In the meeting, Berenger conveyed his condolence on the demise of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and recalled the role played by him in strengthening our bilateral relations.

In April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the multilateral Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London, had met Jugnauth and talked about cooperation in trade and investment, maritime cooperation and people-to-people ties.

In 2017, India had announced a USD 500 million line of credit to Mauritius as the two countries decided to firm up cooperation in the field of maritime security in the Indian Ocean region.

The two sides also signed a maritime security agreement.

Earlier, Swaraj inaugurated Panini Language Laboratory at Mahatma Gandhi Institute. The language laboratory, gifted by the Indian government, deploys ICT-enabled methods to teach Hindi.