India–Mauritius CECPA

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Focus: GS-II: International Relations

India and Mauritius held the 1^st session of India-Mauritius High-Powered Joint Trade Committee on 01-03 August 2022 in New Delhi.

The High-Powered Joint Trade Committee had been constituted as per the mandate of the India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership agreement (CECPA), to review the general functioning and implementation of the India-Mauritius CECPA which entered into force on 1^st April, 2021.
CECPA is the first trade Agreement signed by India with a country in Africa.
The economies ties between the two countries touched a new high with the signing of the landmark CECPA.
The Bilateral merchandise trade between India and Mauritius, rose to USD 786.72 million in 2021-22 from USD 690.02 million in 2019-20. Both sides agreed to enhance bilateral collaboration to further increase bilateral trade and realize the true potential of the bilateral relationship especially under the CECPA.

India–Mauritius relations date back to 1730, diplomatic relations were established in 1948, before Mauritius became independent state.
The cultural affinities and long historical ties between the two nations have contributed to strong and cordial relations between the two nations.
More than 68% of the Mauritian population are of Indian origin, most commonly known as Indo-Mauritians.
India and Mauritius co-operate in combating piracy, which has emerged as a major threat in the Indian Ocean region and Mauritius supports India’s stance against terrorism.
From the 1820s, Indian workers started coming into Mauritius to work on sugar plantations.
In the 1830s, when slavery was abolished by the British Parliament, large numbers of Indian workers began to be brought into Mauritius as indentured labourers.
Novermber 2nd is observed as ‘Aapravasi Day’ to mark the ship named ‘Atlas’ docking in Mauritius in1834 carrying the first batch of Indian indentured labourers.

CECPA provides for an institutional mechanism to encourage and improve trade between the two countries.
The CECPA between India and Mauritius covers various export items for India, including food stuff and beverages, agricultural products, textiles etc., and Mauritius will benefit from preferential market access into India for its products, including frozen fish, speciality sugar, alcoholic drinks, etc.
As regards trade in services, Indian service providers will have access to service sectors, such as professional services, computer related services, research & development etc.
Both sides have also agreed to negotiate an Automatic Trigger Safeguard Mechanism (ATSM) for a limited number of highly sensitive products within two years of the Signing of the Agreement.
This CECPA with Mauritius is the first trade Agreement signed by India with a country in Africa
The Agreement is a limited agreement, which will cover Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Trade in Services, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, Dispute Settlement, Movement of Natural Persons, Telecom, Financial services, Customs Procedures and Cooperation in other Areas.