Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Mauritius on March 11-12 to attend the 57th National Day celebrations of the island as the guest of honour, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has announced.

“PM Modi will be in Mauritius on March 11 and 12 to attend the National Day celebrations of Mauritius, which falls on the 12th of March, as the Chief Guest. A contingent of Indian defence forces will participate in the celebrations along with a ship from the Indian Navy,” the MEA said.

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During the visit, the PM will call on the President of Mauritius and meet his Mauritian counterpart and other key leaders from the country. Mr Modi last visited Mauritius in 2015.

Last month, Mauritius PM Navin Ramgoolam had informed the country’s parliament about PM Modi’s upcoming visit.

“In the context of the celebrations of the 57th anniversary of the Independence of our country, I have great pleasure to inform the House, that following my invitation, His Excellency, Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, has kindly agreed to be the Guest of Honour for our National Day celebrations,” Mr Ramgoolam said.

“It is indeed a singular privilege for our country, to host such a distinguished personality who is doing us this honour, in spite of his very tight schedule and recent visits to Paris and the United States. He has agreed to be here as our special guest. The visit of Shri Modi is a testimony of the close relations between our two nations,” the Mauritius PM added further.

PM Modi has underlined New Delhi’s unwavering commitment to its special and enduring partnership with Mauritius, calling it terming it as “special” and “unique”.

In July 2024, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar undertook a two-day visit to Mauritius — one of the first countries that he visited in his current term — holding extensive discussions with not only then PM Pravind Kumar Jugnauth but also Mr Ramgoolam on various aspects of bilateral ties, including the development partnership, defence and maritime cooperation, economic and trade ties, and people-to-people linkages.

As many as 12 community development projects–covering infrastructure, education, healthcare, public amenities and sports–were virtually inaugurated during Mr Jaishankar’s visit to the country.