Foreign Ministers of member nations of the G20 have gathered in New Delhi, Republic of India, to participate in the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting (FMM), being held from 1st to 2nd March 2023, under India’s presidency. The G20 is an intergovernmental forum for international economic cooperation, comprising 19 countries and the European Union.

Mauritius, represented by the Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Alan Ganoo, features among the non-G20 countries invited by India to attend the meeting as guest.

During this event, Foreign Affairs Minister will be, among others, sharing their perspective on emerging global challenges and international matters. Discussions will also focus on several subjects including Strengthening Multilateralism and Need for Reforms; Food and Energy Security; Development Cooperation; and Counter-Terrorism: New and Emerging Threats.

On the side-lines of the G20 FMM, Minister Ganoo met, yesterday, with the Indian Minister of External Affairs, Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, to talk of matters pertaining to the G20 Meeting and the Mauritius-India relations. At the outset, Mr Ganoo thanked the Indian External Affairs Minister for inviting Mauritius as a guest country at the G20FMM, thereby enabling Mauritius to voice its views on global issues.

The 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries were also discussed with both Ministers expressing satisfaction on the dynamic nature of the bilateral ties, and remarking that the Metro Express project was a model of bilateral cooperation for developing countries.

Minister Ganoo also discussed with his counterpart of the pledge of the Government of Mauritius to introduce electric buses in line with the commitment to become carbon-free, and of ways and means to enhance cooperation with India on this topic.

The meeting enabled both Ministers as well to confer on other issues pertaining to the robust development partnership and the strong multilateral collaboration, encompassing maritime security, and cooperation at regional and continental levels through the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the India and Mauritius and the African Continental Free Trade.

Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar expressed his satisfaction for Mauritius’ participation and reiterated India’s commitment to develop robust partnership and strong multilateral cooperation with Mauritius.

It is recalled that the Republic of India is assuming Presidency of the G20 for one

year from 1st December 2022 to 30th November 2023. The Indian Government has announced that it will invite Mauritius as guest country for the G20 Summit during its presidency, including the G20 Leaders’ Summit at the level of Heads of State/Government, scheduled from 9 to 10 September 2023 in New Delhi.

Moreover, Mauritius has participated in the first two meetings on the calendar of meetings of the G20 as envisaged by the Indian Presidency, in December 2022, namely the First Sherpa Meeting held in Udaipur, Rajasthan, and the First Development Working Group Meeting held in Mumbai.