Proactive India Cements Ties with Mauritius

India has become a proactive nation and has been building stronger ties with nations who share Indian Ocean with it. This is seen as a befitting reply to China's ever increasing expansionist policy specially in the South China Sea.

During the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Mauritius had talked about India and Mauritius always standing in solidarity and support for each other. He had also termed the agreement on the development of Agalega Island as a major stride in India-Mauritius cooperation in infrastructure sector.

India's friendly ties with island nations in the Indian Ocean as seen as a strategy to keep a watch on China's movements.

With an aim to keep the relations with Mauritius warm Indian Naval Ship (INS) Tabar, a stealth frigate of the Indian Navy entered Port Louis, Mauritius and shall remain there till 13th March 2016. INS Tabar is a state of the art guided missile frigate.

Purpose of Tabar entering Port Louis:

The primary aim of the visit is to participate in the Mauritius National Day celebrations and to strengthen the existing bonds of friendship between the two nations. On the occasion of the National day of Mauritius on the 12th March, the ship would be fielding a marching contingent in addition to fly-past by Chetak helicopter and performance by the Indian Naval Band.

Joint exercises between Indian Navy and Mauritius:

The National Day Celebrations in March 2015 coincided with the Joint Commissioning of MCGS Barracuda by the Prime Ministers of both countries. The Indian Navy also undertakes regular joint exercises with nations in the Indian Ocean and INS Teg had undertaken joint patrolling with Mauritius in July 2015.

These joint missions have fostered seamless interoperability between the two maritime nations and have developed a strong friendship and mutual trust that underpin Indo-Mauritian partnership. These visits reinforce the cultural and ethnic ties of the two countries and are testimony to their joint commitment towards maritime security in the region.

The present deployment of Tabar for participation in the National Day celebrations of Mauritius will further cement the close relations between the two nations and the two navies.

Knowledge exchange between India and Mauritius:

In addition to the National Day celebrations, the experts from ship would also impart harbour training through lectures and demonstrations to the National Coast Guard of Mauritius. The lectures would cover a wide spectrum of maritime activities including anti-piracy drills, Visit Board Search and Seizure of ships at sea, use of special equipments and weapons, engineering and preventive maintenance capsules, training on radar, chart plotting, GPS operations for coastal surveillance radar system, damage control and fire-fighting.