India, Mauritius sign limited trade pact

India and Mauritius on Monday signed a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA). This marked India’s first trade pact with an African country.

Under the “limited” agreement, India will have preferential access to the Mauritius market for 310 products, while Mauritius will get access for 615 products. New Delhi will also have access to about 115 sub-sectors across 11 broad services sectors, including software, financial services and telecommunications. The agreement also has provisions for the unrestricted movement of skilled professionals.

The Indian Cabinet had approved the CECPA on February 17. The agreement is expected to come into effect from March. The agreement was signed in the presence of Mauritius’ Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth and India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar.

Bilateral trade between India and Mauritius grew 233% from $207 million in 2005-06 to $690 million in FY20. India’s exports to Mauritius jumped 232% from $199 million to $662 million during this period, while imports rose from just
over $7 million to almost $28 million.

This will be the first trade pact since the Indian government’s launch of Atmanirbhar initiative last year. It is also expected to set the stage for similar agreements with other African nations, where China already has a strong foothold.

In goods trade, Indian exporters will get preferential treatment in food and beverages (80 tariff lines), farm products (25 lines), textiles and garments (27 lines), base metals and related articles (32 lines), electricals and electronics (13 lines), plastics and chemicals (20 lines) and wood and related articles (15 lines).

Similarly, Mauritius will get access in products, including frozen fish, speciality sugar, biscuits, fresh fruits, juices, mineral water, beer, alcoholic drinks, soaps, bags, medical and surgical equipment, and apparel.

Indian service providers will gain access to broad sectors, such as professional services, computer-related services, research & development, other business services, telecommunication, construction, distribution, education, environmental, financial, tourism & travel related, recreational, yoga, audio-visual services, and transport services, the Indian government had said in a statement last week.