By IANS,
New Delhi : India and Mauritius have signed four agreements, including one to supply an offshore patrol vessel and another for cooperation in a tsunami early warning arrangement.
External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, on a two-nation five day visit to Mauritius and Mozambique, stopped first at Port Louis, Mauritius’s capital, where he held discussions with his Mauritius counterpart Arvin Boolell. He also called on the President Anerood Jugnauth and Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam.
Four agreements were signed during the visit, which included a memorandum on cooperation for early warning arrangement for coastal hazards between the Indian National Centre for Ocean Services and Mauritius’s Meteorological Services.
India will also provide a grant of $10 million and line of credit of $48.5 million to Mauritius for supply of an offshore patrol vehicle. It will be manufactured by Garden Reach Shipbuilders in Kolkata.
Mauritius has been facing the scourge of piracy in its waters, with several incidents of piracy attacks of merchant ships reported nearby.
Besides, an agreement for cultural cooperation and another for standardisation, testing and quality certification were also inked during the visit.