India-Mauritius Relations
India and Mauritius share close friendly ties anchored in historical, cultural and ethnic linkages. With over 68% of the Mauritian population being of Indian origin, the two countries enjoy deep civilizational bonds.
Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has consistently been one of India's most trusted international partners. It was the first country that Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited in 2015, underscoring its strategic importance.
Over the decades, India has assisted Mauritius' socio-economic development through lines of credit, grants, and technical assistance. Key projects include metro transport, healthcare facilities, judicial infrastructure and community development initiatives.
Bilateral trade crossed $1.2 billion in 2021-22. While largely tilted in India's favor, Mauritius is an important export market for Indian pharma, apparel, cereals and electrical machinery.
On the strategic front, the two nations signed a landmark Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Partnership Agreement (CECPA) in 2021. This pact covers trade in goods & services, investment flows and economic cooperation.
The security relationship is robust. Mauritius is a major beneficiary of Indian assistance and training for its police, military and coast guard. India has provided patrol vessels, helicopters and surveillance systems to strengthen its maritime security.
As maritime neighbors in the Indian Ocean, the two countries are jointly developing the Agalega Islands for air and port infrastructure to enhance connectivity. Information sharing and coordinated patrols ensure maritime domain awareness.
On the global stage, India and Mauritius closely collaborate in forums like the UN, Commonwealth and African Union on issues like climate change, counter-terrorism and reform of multilateral institutions.
Future Prospects
Several opportunities exist to further deepen the India-Mauritius special relationship:
- Enhancing two-way investments and establishing Mauritius as a gateway for Indian investments into Africa under the CECPA framework.
- Cooperating on ocean economy sectors like marine biotechnology, offshore renewable energy, seabed mining and integrated coastal management.
- Making Mauritius an international education and healthcare hub by attracting Indian universities, hospitals and vocational institutes.
- Partnering on implementation of e-governance, digital payments and smart cities to develop Mauritius as a technology test-bed.
- Training Mauritian government officials, law enforcement agencies and legal professionals on countering cybercrime, narcotics smuggling, money laundering and terrorism.
- Conducting joint scientific research on climate change threats to Small Island Developing States by leveraging capabilities of Indian Space Research Organization and related entities.
- Enhancing cultural exchanges by establishing Chairs for Indian languages, history and cultural studies at the University of Mauritius and other academic centers.
In summary, while India and Mauritius already enjoy exceptionally close ties, the scope for cooperation remains immense in fortifying the Mauritian economy, augmenting its strategic capabilities and providing it a platform to emerge as a regional leader.
India-Tanzania Relations
India and Tanzania have traditionally enjoyed close and friendly relations underpinned by economic and development cooperation. Tanzania was the first partner country for India’s development assistance program launched in 1964.
Bilateral ties have expanded considerably after the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1961 following Tanzania’s independence. Over the decades, India has emerged as a trusted development partner supporting Tanzania’s nation building efforts.
The India-Tanzania friendship is anchored in shared developmental challenges and similar visions for equitable growth. As two cultural mosaics that host significant Indian-origin communities, they also share strong cultural affinities.
India has extended concessional lines of credit of over $3 billion to Tanzania so far. Major projects include drinking water, power generation, natural gas pipeline, road corridors etc. that have boosted connectivity and electricity access.
Two-way trade has grown steadily crossing $5 billion. Indian firms have invested around $3 billion in Tanzania focused on manufacturing, agribusiness, automobiles, textiles and engineering.
A Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement and longstanding air services pact provide an enabling framework for commercial exchanges. India accounts for the 6th largest source of FDI into Tanzania.
On the strategic front, the two nations signed a defence cooperation pact in 2017 encompassing military training, counter-terrorism and capacity building of Tanzanian forces. The Indian Navy regularly participates in joint maritime surveillance to safeguard Indian Ocean security.
Cultural cooperation remains a strong link, with Indian assistance in preserving Tanzanian heritage sites. Thousands of Tanzanian students pursue higher education in India. Yoga, dance, music, cuisine and Bollywood have expanded soft power appeal on both sides.
Future Prospects
As India-Tanzania ties gain greater economic and strategic heft, prospects for cooperation are bright in the following areas:
- Mobilizing Indian investments in support of Tanzania’s industrialization push with priority sectors being manufacturing, tourism, agriculture, housing and construction.
- Harnessing India’s experience with digital governance solutions to support technology-enabled delivery of public services across Tanzania.
- Collaborating in new areas like space technology, tele-medicine, e-learning and vocational training by utilizing Indian technical expertise.
- Boosting connectivity by establishing direct air and sea links between major cities and building integrated transport corridors spanning the two countries.
- Conducting joint scientific research on sustainable farming, climate adaptation, medicinal plants, and biodiversity conservation leveraging capacities of Indian and Tanzanian research institutions.
- Exploring trilateral partnerships with Tanzania and select African states by drawing on Indian development aid and Tanzania’s geographic access.
- Cooperating to counter violent extremism in East Africa through intelligence sharing and capacity building against threats posed by piracy, drugs and human trafficking.
Overall, India is well placed to accompany Tanzania’s ascent as one of Africa’s fastest growing economies seeking to unlock its demographic dividend and regional leadership potential.
India-Panama Relations
India and Panama established diplomatic ties relatively recently in 1976 but the relationship has gathered momentum in the last decade buoyed by growing trade and Panama’s strategic location.
Two-way commerce has expanded steadily crossing $300 million. While still modest, bilateral trade is diversifying beyond traditional products. India mainly exports vehicles, pharmaceuticals, machinery, apparel, plastics and optical instruments to Panama.
From India’s energy security perspective, Panama is an important partner being the home for the strategic Panama Canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans with major shipping implications.
Panama has conveyed willingness to cooperate closely with India across international fora on common priorities like maritime security, environment protection and countering terrorism.
Signaling its importance, Panama was one of the few Latin American countries visited by Prime Minister Modi in 2018 during his first tour of the region. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu also undertook a state visit in 2019.
Areas of Future Cooperation
While political relations have strengthened between India and Panama, the economic and strategic components still remain modest and need concerted efforts to fully tap the potential:
Trade - Conclude a bilateral free trade agreement focusing on services and investments to boost economic ties. Promote Panama as a strategic hub for Indian companies trying to access Latin America's market of over 600 million people.
Connectivity - Cooperate on projects enhancing connectivity with Central America where Panama is a vital transit point linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Energy Security - Explore partnership opportunities in LNG trade and maritime energy transportation leveraging Indian demand and Panama Canal's role as an energy crossroad.
Technology - Collaborate on e-governance, health-tech and building Panama's digital economy by utilizing India's technology expertise and global competitiveness in IT services.
Space - Tap into Panama's unique location to establish joint observation and tracking facilities for outer space assets that can benefit Panama's nascent space program.
Security - Boost maritime domain awareness and blue economy cooperation by conducting coordinated naval patrols, joint exercises, technical training and cyber security.
Tourism - Promote two-way tourism between India and Latin America by highlighting Panama's unique strengths as a tourism destination. Also explore cruise tourism.
In summary, while political relations have strengthened substantially, India and Panama need a sharper economic and strategic focus to boost bilateral ties as partners with significant complementarities and shared interests. The current positive momentum in relations provides an ideal platform to unlock the latent potential.
Here is a continued elaboration on strengthening cooperation between India and Mauritius, Tanzania, and Panama:
India-Mauritius
- Establish a bilateral Strategic Partnership framework for closer coordination on Indian Ocean security, defense technology cooperation, intelligence sharing and maritime connectivity projects.
- Institutionalize annual summit meetings, foreign office dialogues and meetings of economic/defense ministers to provide direction and review progress in the relationship.
- Assist in the modernization of Mauritius' ports and integrate them into India's Sagarmala initiative to bolster seaborne trade ties and enhance regional connectivity.
- Partner with Mauritius to develop its exclusive economic zone through joint exploration of seabed minerals, ocean renewable energy projects and climate research to harness the blue economy.
- Provide technology and capacity building support to build Mauritius' capabilities in space applications, cyber security, e-governance platforms and other emerging technologies by leveraging Indian expertise.
- Welcome Mauritius' entry into the Coalition of Disaster Resilient Infrastructure that will enable it to develop climate and disaster resilient infrastructure with Indian support.
India-Tanzania
- Establish a bilateral Strategic Partnership structure for ministerial level oversight of security cooperation, policy coordination, economic ties and technical collaboration across focus sectors.
- Support Tanzania's G20 Presidency in 2025 by assisting in knowledge and experience sharing, agenda setting and representing Africa’s development priorities.
- Collaborate to develop regional connectivity infrastructure projects under India's Lines of Credit that enhance Tanzania's links with neighbouring states and boost regional integration.
- Setup joint working groups for deeper sectoral cooperation in areas like railways, ICT, automotive, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, energy and geospatial applications.
- Assist Tanzania in adopting Indian innovations for digitalization of education, healthcare delivery, financial inclusion, electronic payments and other public services to benefit citizens.
- Institute mechanisms for counter-terrorism cooperation such as intelligence sharing, law enforcement training, combating radicalization and choking terror financing networks.
India-Panama
- Conduct annual Foreign Office Consultations for regular high-level review of bilateral ties and consult on regional/global matters of mutual interest.
- Promote Panama as a strategic base for Indian firms by easing legal/visa policies and providing fiscal incentives to attract investment in key sectors.
- Cooperate on projects enhancing multimodal connectivity via land, sea and air routes along the Pacific-Atlantic axis with spinoff benefits for regional trade.
- Leverage the India-Israel-UAE trilateral partnership to explore possibilities for joint cooperation in Latin America, especially Panama.
- Share India's expertise in ecotourism, wildlife conservation, forest management and biodiversity protection to support Panama's abundant natural assets.
- Jointly develop capacity building programs specialized for Central American region across fields like public administration, local governance, audit, policy making where India has proven strengths.
In summary, these steps can help substantially deepen ties and increase engagement between India and the strategic partners of Mauritius, Tanzania and Panama based on mutual interests and a shared vision for the future.
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