EAM Jaishankar inaugurates modern medical facility built with Indian assistance in Mauritius

Port Louis: A modern medical facility built with Indian grant assistance to Mauritius was inaugurated on Wednesday with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar calling it the "newest expression of our friendship".

Jaishankar arrived here on Tuesday on a two-day visit, one of the first countries he was visiting in his current term as External Affairs Minister.

Inaugurating the Mediclinic in Grand Bois, built with Indian grant assistance, Jaishankar described it as "the newest expression of our friendship".

Addressing the event, he said it will provide secondary health care for 16,000 people in the area.

"I'm told it will provide secondary health care for 16,000 people in the Grand Pois area, and we feel very proud to be a partner in this collaboration."

"We feel proud because, after Covid-19, health is a priority...All of us have become health conscious," he said.

"We worry about things rightly so. But we also believe, all of us believe that health is our right. And that right today, every government has a duty to deliver," he said.

"For me to be part of such an important delivery event is something which is a matter of great satisfaction," he said.

Jaishankar commended Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth for the collaboration initiative, which has "associated us with this event and which actually will make life better for the ordinary people, the common citizens of this country."

He said if India and Mauritius work together on all topics, including old and new challenges, future topics, and transformations that technology is bringing about, then it is a work for humanity, but it'll be for the world's greater good. It'll be good for both our countries, and to take this forward, we need good governance, and for good governance, we need good institutions, Jaishankar added.

"We are today helping each other. We are helping the region. We are doing good for the world. And I want to say that our partnership today is contributing to the well-being of Mauritius, to connectivity within Mauritius, to the prosperity of Mauritius, and that is a permanent commitment from India," he said.

Talking about space cooperation between the two countries, he said, "We are actually going to be delivering on space-based cooperation, which will allow an early warning system that, in case of any natural disaster or extreme weather event here, the entire public will be warned beforehand so that you can prepare for it."

On Tuesday, Jaishankar said that India and Mauritius' discussion on space cooperation was translated into a concrete project with the exchange of the Project Plan Document between India's ISRO and Mauritius MRIC (Mauritius Research and Innovation Council).

"We look forward to its early implementation so as to launch a satellite for Mauritius," he said.

Earlier in the day, Jaishankar met Mauritius' top political leaders, including Opposition leader Arvin Boolell, and discussed ways to deepen India's special and enduring partnership with the island nation.