By all accounts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Mauritius was a resounding success. The relatively short visit of two days (11-12 March 2025) arguably scored high on multiple fronts for the India-Mauritius bilateral special relationship. Coming exactly a decade after his maiden visit to the island nation in 2015 (the dates coincided with the Mauritius National Day (12 March) that year, too), Modi’s tour across the equator further consolidated the gains of the close ties that the two sides have enjoyed since long. So what were the major takeaways of the visit from the strategic perspective and how does it augur for regional security?
Firstly, if symbols were to speak a story for themselves, the visit was replete with symbolism of special importance to both nations. Take the singing of Bhojpuri traditional folk songs by a group of Mauritian ladies to welcome the Indian PM, the participation of an Indian Defence contingent in the National Day parade alongside their Mauritian counterparts, an Indian warship being opened to Mauritian visitors at the pier side in Port Louis harbour, the references to the Girmitiya heritage (traceable to the migration of indentured labour from India) to the immersion of the Gangajaal brought from the Triveni Sangam at Prayagraj (during the Maha Kumbh Mela) into the revered Ganga Talao of Mauritius by Modi, the convergence between the two nations straddling the dimensions of history, culture and people to people ties was on full display.
Moving beyond symbols, the engagement witnessed substantial outcomes. Eight agreements/memoranda of understanding were concluded, covering a broad range of intended outcomes in capacity building, financial matters, maritime safety and security, oceanography and entrepreneurship. An India-funded Institute of Public Service and Innovation and an Area Health Centre were among the projects that were formally inaugurated. The mutual regard between Narendra Modi and his host, Dr. Navin Chandra Ramgoolam, was perceptible in their warm body language and friendly gestures. Modi was conferred with the “Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean”, the highest honour of Mauritius, which has been bestowed upon only five non-Mauritian nationals. Both leaders agreed to elevate the India-Mauritius partnership to an ‘Enhanced Strategic Partnership’. Readers may recollect that in an earlier article published by this platform in early December 2025, the anticipated positive orientation of the then newly elected Mauritian Prime Minister, Dr Navin Ramgoolam, towards India was accurately projected.
Modi’s public remarks during the visit were notable for key announcements in developmental partnership even as they offered reassurance to Port Louis of India’s long-term commitment to its security. Highlighting important projects like the Metro Express Line, Supreme Court Building, Social Housing and many other schemes completed with Indian assistance, Modi announced that India would be funding the new Parliament building of Mauritius. He highlighted that India would help build the Police Academy and National Maritime Information Sharing Centre of Mauritius while identifying defence cooperation and maritime security as key pillars of the strategic partnership. His emphasis on the free, open, secure, and safe Indian Ocean as a common priority would not have gone unnoticed in various foreign embassies in Mauritius. Modi also reiterated India’s commitment to providing its full support for the security of the Exclusive Economic Zone of Mauritius. He pledged that India will extend every possible assistance to meet the needs of the Mauritius Coast Guard, which India has mentored since its inception. The maritime focus in the mutually agreed priorities was further embellished with references to the exchange of white shipping information, blue economy, and hydrography.
Modi rounded off his public comments on 12 March by announcing the formulation of MAHASAGAR, i.e. “Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions”, which appears to be an upscaling of his 2015 SAGAR initiative denoting “Security and Growth for All in the Region”, also announced at Mauritius. While the specifics of MAHASAGAR are yet to be spelt out, it could be a harbinger of a new phase of Indian leadership in the Indian Ocean, focused on trade, development and security assistance. Modi highlighted that India will assist partners through technology sharing, concessional loans and grants. Anchored on the idea of helping the Global South, MAHASAGAR may bring together India’s ongoing cooperative efforts at the bilateral level with Island states of the Western Indian Ocean and African nations, especially the littoral states of Eastern and Southern Africa. While the term Global South is not limited to the developing world in the Indian Ocean region, undoubtedly, Mauritius can be an important partner of India in its regional efforts at the multilateral level. Both sides already cooperate closely in forums such as the Colombo Security Conclave and the Indian Ocean Rim Association. Notably, prior to his departure for the visit, Modi described Mauritius as a close maritime neighbour, a key partner in the Indian Ocean, and a gateway to the African Continent, thus underscoring its important place in India’s geostrategic conceptualisation.
From the Mauritian perspective, perhaps Modi’s most valuable words of support were to the effect that “India fully respects the sovereignty of Mauritius with regard to Chagos”. It is an endorsement that Port Louis would value the most as it negotiates an agreement with the United Kingdom on the future of the Chagos archipelago, often described as Britain’s Last Colony. The agreement to transfer the sovereignty of Chagos to Mauritius was secretly discussed, negotiated and firmed up over two years through the tenures of previous governments in the UK and Mauritius. However, a number of new factors, including the coming to power of a new government in Mauritius, followed by the change of Presidency in the United States of America – a key stakeholder in the equation – resulted in the process becoming protracted.
After assuming office in late 2024, Ramgoolam expressed reservations about the deal struck by his predecessor, calling for certain changes to the terms and conditions. In early February 2025, Ramgoolam told the Mauritian parliament that his new team had renegotiated an “inflation-proof” draft featuring an undisclosed “front-loaded” payment. Reportedly, Mauritius has also pressed for the final say in future extensions of the 99-year lease arrangement worked out with the UK for the island of Diego Garcia, where the US has a strategic military base, which it co-manages with the UK. On his part, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has reportedly conveyed to Ramgoolam that he wants “strong protections”, including from “malign influence”, for the U.S.-British military base on Diego Garcia, possibly alluding to China’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean.
While the Chagos deal remains a work in progress, going forward, Mauritius would need to brace itself to administer the territory, which is located over 2,000 kilometres from the main island of Mauritius. It is a proposition in which Ramgoolam may turn to New Delhi for help. Port Louis would also need long range aircraft and ships to access the far flung territory where transportation facilities are limited. The improved sea and air connectivity facilities on the Agaléga Islands of Mauritius, located closer to Chagos, may prove vital for Port Louis. These facilities were created with Indian assistance as per a MoU signed between the two sides during Modi’s 2015 visit to Mauritius and constitute a major area of cooperation. The Chagos factor makes India the natural and most attractive partner to Port Louis. Looking through the geopolitical lens, India also presently enjoys a “sweet spot” with the US and UK due to their shared wariness of Beijing’s intentions in the Indian Ocean. Unsurprisingly, multiple Mauritian leaders echoed Indian sentiments and common commitment to Indian Ocean security, as was evident in the public remarks of Prime Minister Ramgoolam, Foreign Minister Dhananjay Ramful and Deputy Foreign Minister Hambyrajen Narsinghen.
To be sure, its pro-India slant notwithstanding, Mauritius practices a multipolar foreign policy, juggling to maintain good relations with all major powers, including the US and China. While retaining its traditionally close ties with the US and Europe, Mauritius has hugely benefited from China’s economic and developmental largesse over the years and shares a strong relationship with Beijing. Not unlike some other nations on the east coast of Africa, Mauritius has a small but influential Chinese-origin diaspora going back in history to the colonial period. Both sides concluded a Free Trade Agreement in 2019, which was China’s first FTA with an African nation. Though Mauritius has always regarded India as amongst its key developmental and security partners, it needs to be borne in mind that traditionally, France has also been a major player in the region and an important factor in Mauritius’ external outlook owing to a variety of reasons, not least due to the geographical proximity of the island of La Reunion, which is an overseas department of France. France plays a key role in the Indian Ocean Commission, where Mauritius is among the five member states, all located in the Southwestern Indian Ocean.
In a period of heightened geopolitical flux, Modi’s MAHASAGAR articulation is a timely missive of India’s focus on multidimensional cooperation with the Global South. The challenge for New Delhi would be to consolidate upon the gains of SAGAR and bring together the efforts of various arms of the government so as to deliver on its promise of trade for growth, capacity building for sustainable growth and activities for mutual security across the region whose shores are washed by the waters of the Indian Ocean. If the Modi government is successful in achieving a synthesis of its diverse sectoral efforts under the MAHASAGAR rubric, it may well herald a new, bolder role of India in the Indian Ocean Region.
Nitin A Gokhale
