Defence Manohar Parrikar today assured Mauritius India will continue to extend "full support" to it for training and capacity-building as he handed over two Chetak helicopters and the Indian Ocean nation commissioned an Indian-made fast patrol vessel for its Coast Guard.
He met Mauritius Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth, who also holds the defence portfolio, and was the special guest of honour at the event commissioning the water jet attack craft.
Parrikar said the multifaceted bilateral partnership reaches yet another milestone with the commissioning of the CGS Victory and the two Chetak helicopters. In his address at the ceremony, he said this year was marked by renewed vigour in all the different facets of multidimensional relationship.
"A new era of cooperation between India and Mauritius has dawned," he said.
"We look forward to further intensification of our close ties in the coming years, marked by the implementation of major projects such as the Metro Express, the construction of the new building of the Supreme Court, the headquarters of the National Coast Guard of Mauritius, the construction of the new ENT Hospital, supply of digital tablets to primary school children and the social housing project," he said.
Parrikar, the first Indian defence minister to visit Mauritius, said as the "geopolitical pivot" shifts from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, ensuring the safety of "our shared maritime domain would be central to safeguarding the future of humanity."
"In this regard, the Indian Navy is happy to continue its privileged association with the Coast Guard of Mauritius for shouldering our collective responsibility of securing the waters of the Indian Ocean," he said.
In their meeting, Parrikar and Jugnauth expressed "deep satisfaction" over defence and security cooperation.
"The Indian government would continue to extend its full support to Mauritius for capacity building as well as supply and maintainence of defence equipment," Parrikar said.
The vessel CGS Victory is built by Goa Shipyard Limited while CGS Valiant - also built by GSL - is due for delivery to Mauritius in 2017.
CGS Victory will help Mauritius widen its outer island support activities and conduct in-depth surveillance in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to tackle transnational crimes such as drug and human trafficking, piracy, and terrorism.
The Chetak helicopters from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd were gifted by India to the Police Helicopter Squadron of the Mauritian Police Force.
The choppers, which have an operational life of 15 years, would enhance the existing capabilities of Mauritius police for search and rescue operations and emergency evacuations.
Parrikar will meet the President of Mauritius, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, tomorrow and also interact with Cabinet ministers of the Mauritius government including Vice Prime Minister Showkutally Soodhun and Finance Minister Pravind Jugnauth.
His itinerary also include a visit to the Indian Survey Ship INS Darshak, which is on a month-long deployment to Mauritius for conducting hydrographic surveys.
With this visit, India and Mauritius reaffirm their strong commitment to the maintenance of peace, security and stability in the Indian Ocean region, an official statement said.
