EAM Jaishankar to visit Sri Lanka, Mauritius this month as Modi 3.0 pushes Indian Ocean region outreach

New Delhi: External affairs minister S Jaishankar will visit Sri Lanka this week and Mauritius next week as the Modi 3.0 government seeks to consolidate its 'neighbourhood first' policy.

Earlier this month, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth had visited New Delhi to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's oath-taking ceremony.

The aim of Jaishankar's visit will be to review bilateral ties as both Sri Lanka and Mauritius prepare to hold elections this year. New Delhi is keen to maintain its influence in the southern and western Indian Ocean amid China's growing presence in the region.


The proposed visit to Sri Lanka this Thursday will be Jaishankar's standalone bilateral visit under Modi 3.0. Since Lanka's economic crisis, India has been at the forefront of the bailout package besides boosting the country's infrastructure, tourism and power sectors.

Mauritius remains India's closest strategic and economic partner in the south-western Indian Ocean Region. The two signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) in 2021. India has also extended a $100 million defence line of credit to Mauritius.

To boost tourism and business, India in 2024 launched the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services in both Sri Lanka and Mauritius. The introduction of RuPay card services in Mauritius enables local banks to issue cards based on the RuPay mechanism, facilitating settlements in both India and Mauritius.