The award was conferred by Mauritius President Dharam Gokhool.

People stood in rain as contingents and members of Mauritius armed forces marched in formation and performed acrobatic drills.

“Honoured to be conferred the Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean, and that too on Mauritius’ National Day.,” Modi said on ‘X’, formerly Twitter.

New Delhi counts as one of the major trading partners for Port Louis with trade alone booming by 132% in the last 17 years, from 206.76 million US dollars in 2005-06 to 554.19 million US dollars in 2022-23.

Meanwhile, Modi and Ramgoolam discussed the enhancement of strategic ties.

Speaking after their bilateral meeting, Modi said India backs Mauritius sovereignty over Chagos, after US President Donald Trump said last month he would support a deal between Mauritius and Britain over the future of the US-British base in the Chagos Archipelago, a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean.

Diego Garcia, the largest island of the archipelago, has been used as a joint British-US military base since the 1970s.

Indian officials organising Modi’s trip to the island nation said the settling of the Chagos sovereignty issue was welcome news for New Delhi, which has historically backed Mauritius claims over the islands, and more recently supported America’s presence in the Indian Ocean to check China’s influence.

India, in its bid to expand its strategic footprint in the Indian Ocean, helped Mauritius develop sea and air links on the remote Agalega Islands.

--Reuters--