Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth arrives in India; first trip abroad after taking office

New Delhi: Mauritius prime minister Pravind Jugnauth arrived in New Delhi on Friday for a three-day state visit to India. He was received at the airport by Minister of State for Human Resource Development Upendra Kushwaha. This is Jugnauth’s first visit abroad since he assumed office in January 2017. [caption id=“attachment_3484055” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Mauritius PM Pravind Jugnauth. Getty Images[/caption] On Saturday, Jugnauth will call on President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice-President Hamid Ansari, and hold delegation-level talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, Defence and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan will also call on the visiting dignitary, who is a person of Indian origin. Jugnauth will also address a business event organised by industry lobbies CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM later on Friday. His visit comes after the visit of then Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam in May 2014 for the swearing in of the NDA government at the Centre. Modi visited the Indian Ocean island nation in March 2015. Jugnauth is being accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Collendavelloo, and the cabinet and finance secretaries of the country. Mauritius is home to a large number of people of Indian origin who are descendants of indentured Indian workers brought in the 19th century to work in sugarcane plantations.