Vantage | Why does Mauritius have an Indian security advisor?

Did you know that Mauritius has an Indian national security advisor? We don’t mean ‘Indian-origin’, but an Indian citizen. It’s an arrangement that goes back decades. New Delhi hand-picks the Mauritian NSA. How strange is that? Can you imagine a non-Indian as India’s NSA? Or a non-American as the US NSA? It’s unthinkable. So, why does Mauritius keep doing it? We’ll get to that in a bit, but first, meet the new national security advisor of Mauritius. Reports say, it’s Vivek Johri, a senior intelligence officer. He has already worked extensively in India’s neighbourhood. His next posting is Port Louis, that’s the capital of Mauritius. The man he is replacing is also an Indian official - Kumaresan Ilango. He is a 1982 batch IPS officer who had retired as second-in-command at the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s spy agency.

Why Mauritius matters for India Now, this arrangement is very important for India. Most of us may know Mauritius as a holiday destination, but there’s a lot more at play. For instance, its location. Mauritius is located in the western Indian Ocean. It is just 65 kilometres long and 45 kilometres wide. But strategically, it’s very important, sort of like a launchpad to Africa. China has been increasing its influence in the western Indian Ocean. They already have a base in Djibouti, but Mauritius has been a firm Indian ally. Indo-Mauritius ties One reason for that is shared ethnicity. Around 68 per cent of all Mauritians are of Indian-origin, 48 per cent of them are Hindus, including their Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth. There is an Indian cultural centre in the country as well as the World Hindi Secretariat. The relations are deep. India trains Mauritian security officials. We also fund dozens of projects on the island. Just last year, a major deal was announced - India promised to invest $500 million on a metro project. Plus, New Delhi is the first responder when things go wrong. Mauritius reaches out to India, whether it’s a pandemic, an oil spill or a natural disaster and India has always been the first to arrive. It’s all in the history Is that why Mauritius has an Indian NSA? Not really. The answer to that lies in the country’s history. Mauritius became independent in 1968. Until then, it was a British colony. A few years later, in 1974, they signed a security deal with India. From then - the military exchange began. Things were fine until 1982. Elections were held that year and a new coalition government came to power in Mauritius. The new prime minister was Anerood Jugnauth, the father of the current prime minister. Soon, divisions emerged within the coalition. Jugnauth faced a rival within his own party - a man called Paul Bérenger. So, in 1983 Jugnauth travelled to India and had a meeting with prime pinister Indira Gandhi. His objective? To get military support from India. And he was successful. An ‘almost’ operation Indira Gandhi approved Operation Lal Dora. The plan was to land Indian troops in Mauritius. It never happened though. The Army and Navy couldn’t decide on how to do it or on who would lead the operation. So, the military plan was paused. Instead, New Delhi opted for covert operations. The R&AW chief was dispatched to Mauritius. His job was to mobilise the Indian origin community and he was successful. Anerood Jugnauth retained his chair. He later requested India to send a national security advisor and New Delhi sent one - General JN Tamini. He was the Indian Army’s chief liaison officer with R&AW. Since then, all Mauritian NSAs have been Indian. It’s a very unique arrangement - one that signifies the importance of this relationship. India invited Mauritius to the G20 summit as well. Prime Minister Jugnauth met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence. Only two other leaders got this reception - US President Joe Biden and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The other meetings were held at the G20 summit venue. A scandal So clearly, it’s a mutually beneficial set-up, but is it also a popular one? Not always. Last year, there was a major snooping scandal in Mauritius. The opposition blamed the Indian NSA. They questioned why the arrangement continued. Prime Minister Jugnauth stuck by New Delhi. He slammed the opposition for what he called – India bashing. So, the government of Mauritius is still on board, and it’s important to keep it that way because in the race for the Indo-Pacific, Mauritius will play an important role. Their security is linked to India’s security. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.