The Indo-Mauritian relationship is a special one. Both
culture and history have coalesced to forge singular bonds, assiduously knitted
over millenniums, to unfold a unique blend of camaraderie, entente and
trust. These have been consolidated by
regular exchanges between our two people and frequent visits of high dignitaries.
One of the distinguished visitors even eulogised Mauritius as a "Great
Little Country". Perhaps she meant that little Mauritius, though not an
exact replica of Mother India, had successfully imbued the centuries-old
traditions and philosophies of one of the most ancient civilisations in the
world. Without the expanse of the Indian
sub-continent, extending from Kashmir (Kargil) to Kanyakumari, to imbibe the
prodigious legacy of the Indus Valley
civilisation, the Harappans and the
Indo-Aryans and non-Aryans, little Mauritius could still boast of harbouring
the great religions that have peopled the world and of having preserved the
purity of traditional culture and the Dharma-Moral law. It is perhaps in this
sense that the little country became great. The Dharma not only taught us how to
live with the mind-boggling diversities of a multi-lingual and multi-cultural
nation-state but also to learn to cherish such diversities. In another sense that the little joins in to
the Great is in the shared belief of the outstanding virtue of democracy. Democracy, in both Little and Mother India,
has not only survived the vagaries of time but has deepened over the years to
establish itself as the only form of political organisation supple enough to
accommodate the diversity of our societies. Thus our special relationship goes
beyond the emotional ties of the five millennium of a common cultural heritage
and legacy. It is rooted in the more concrete practical realities of a trusting
partnership sharing a common vision of the local and the global economy and the
framework for a comprehensive development agenda for the third millennium.
These links have continuously been affirmed by the
valuable and relentless commitment to an informed understanding of the depths
of our historical tradition and heritage. The Great Little Country, harbouring the great
civilisations that have peopled the world, can still boast itself for having
preserved the purity of their traditional cultures and values such that the
Mauritian today sources himself from East as well as West, equally at ease with
stalwarts ranging from Voltaire to Premchand and ensuring that the twain does
meet.
The varied nature of the Mauritian delegation at this
meeting gives a special meaning to the interplay between culture and
economics. If globalisation exercises
such a hold over the imagination of people as it disseminates its culture of
leisure and affluence, it also discloses the importance of cultural ties in
boosting trade and investment. In the
olden times, culture followed trade through the Silk Route. Now it is working the other way round. The High Performing Asian Economies hooked
themselves to the overseas Chinese business networks, the so-called Bamboo
Networks, and as India lurches forward with its vast reservoir of “jet-setting
globalists”, “high-powered intellectuals” and “high-rolling industrialists”, it
will be relying a lot on its own diaspora to continue to drive it confidently
and pertly forward to double digits growth much beyond the stagnant Hindu rate
of growth stigma. Mauritius, a rallying
centre among others for the Indian diaspora, hopes to plug to these types of
networks to forge with India a new route - call it the IT Highways - where
Mauritius and the Indian diaspora will interface the sub-continent via the
African continent to other growth centres. We believe that our roadmap to
economic prosperity remains the close integration of Mauritius in the global
economy and the development of Mauritius as a business and financial hub
serving the region and beyond. Mauritius could thus act as a service node
linked to a huge network of investment ventures stretching all through East
Asia, the Indian sub-continent, Africa and other affluent countries of
residence of the Indian diaspora, imposing itself as a packager of investment.
There are indeed immense possibilities to encourage outsiders to exploit new
investment opportunities and to use other states as platforms for serving the
whole bloc.
As most of the countries are successfully integrating into
the global economy and are taking measures to attract foreign talents,
know-how, ideas, technology and capital, and improve their investment climate,
it will open opportunities for pooling resources together to tap the global and
regional business, trade and investment networks.
To galvanise resources, special measures should be devised
to facilitate the involvement of the Indian diaspora in the investment sector
in India. For example, this may include
the setting up of special economic zones exclusively for projects to be set up
by NRIs/PIOs where the diaspora could be involved in the development of such
zones.
It is also important that NRIs/PIOs promote greater
bilateral trade and investment relations between their country of adoption and
India. Mauritius, for example, will
shortly sign a comprehensive economic and partnership agreement withy India
which aims at promoting greater trade and investment exchanges. This can serve as a powerful conduit for
greater bilateral exchanges for mutual benefits.
India’s economic clout is beginning to
make itself felt on the international stage as the nation retakes the place it
held as a global-trade giant and races to become an economic powerhouse. India is seeing not only a revolution of the
economy but also one of the national mindset.
We all share with India the hope that goes with a future full of
possibilities for all the nations and the Indian diaspora that choose to hook
itself to the powerful Indian wagon of growth in business, trade and investment.
We
believe firmly in the creative energies of the Indian diaspora. Today’s function is a deep expression of an
urge by the PIO as well as the NRI to dialogue and interact and to strengthen
further the ties of kinship. The reverse
brain drain from PIOs and NRIs who have made fortunes globally is already
happening as witnesses by many new captains of Indian Industry. We should further promote its propagation
through these high level exchanges and conferences.
