India-Mauritius Relations

Nearly 70% of Mauritius’s people trace their roots to India. No other country outside India has a higher share. That single fact shapes almost everything about how the two deal with each other. This page covers the ancestry, the ocean policy and the recent meetings.

Keep three questions in mind. Why is Mauritius so close to India? What is its role in India’s ocean policy? And what did the 2025 and 2026 meetings add?

1Why is Mauritius so close to India?

Walk through Port Louis and you will hear Bhojpuri songs and see temples. The reason is history.

From 1834, the British brought Indian indentured labourers to work on Mauritius’s sugar plantations. Their descendants make up nearly 70% of the island’s people.

India and Mauritius set up diplomatic relations in 1948. That was twenty years before Mauritius became independent in 1968.

Mauritius also hosts the World Hindi Secretariat, in place since 2008.

• Indian-origin share: nearly 70%.
• Indentured labour from 1834.
• Diplomatic ties: 1948; independence: 1968.

2What role does Mauritius play in India’s ocean policy?

Modi first spoke of SAGAR in Mauritius in 2015. It stands for Security and Growth for All in the Region.

In March 2025, he launched a bigger idea there: Vision MAHASAGAR. It stands for Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions. (Source: MEA)

Do not mix them up. SAGAR is from 2015. MAHASAGAR is from 2025.

India is also developing Agalega Island, part of Mauritius. Better connectivity there helped speed aid after Cyclone Chido.

India backs Mauritius’s sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago.

• SAGAR: 2015, announced in Mauritius.
• MAHASAGAR: March 2025.
• Island project: Agalega.
• India backs Mauritius on Chagos.

3What did trade and the 2025 visit add?

The CECPA was signed on 22 February 2021. It was India’s first trade agreement with any African country. It was not India’s first trade agreement overall.

Modi made a State Visit on 11–12 March 2025, as Chief Guest at Mauritius’s National Day. The two sides raised ties to an Enhanced Strategic Partnership. (Source: MEA)

Several agreements were signed. They covered local-currency settlement, a credit facility for water projects, training and blue economy. India also offered to help build a new Parliament building as a gift from the “Mother of Democracy”.

Modi received the Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean. He was the first Indian to get it. (Source: DD News)

• CECPA: 22 February 2021, first with Africa.
• Visit: 11–12 March 2025.
• Honour: Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean.

4What happened in June 2026?

On 28 June 2026, Modi met Mauritian PM Navinchandra Ramgoolam in Victoria, Seychelles. They met on the sidelines of Seychelles’ Golden Jubilee National Day. (Source: IANS)

It was their fourth meeting since Ramgoolam took office in November 2024.

They reviewed India’s Special Economic Package. It touches healthcare, connectivity, sustainable development and the blue economy. (Source: PMO India)

• Meeting: 28 June 2026, Victoria, Seychelles.
• Fourth meeting since November 2024.
• Framework: MAHASAGAR and Neighbourhood First.

5What are the exam traps?

• 1948 ties; 1968 independence.
• SAGAR 2015 vs MAHASAGAR 2025.
• CECPA = first with Africa, not overall.
• Indian-origin share = nearly 70%.
• 2015 SAGAR announcement was in Mauritius.