Willing to take Mauritius-India Partnership to new heights: Foreign secy Kwatra

Port Louis [Mauritius], April 14 : Foreign Secretary of India Vinay Mohan Kwatra met with Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth on Thursday at the New Treasury Building, in the Capital Port Louis. He was accomped by the High Commissioner of India to Mauritius, K. Nandini Singla, Le Matinal reported.

In a statement after the meeting, Kwatra highlighted that this is his first official visit to Mauritius. He lauded the sense of leadership and guidance of Prime Minister Jugnauth as regards the overall spectrum and direction of the India-Mauritius relationship.

The discussions focused on the partnership between the two countries and the path of future development projects that India and Mauritius could undertake, the Foreign Secretary of India stated, Le Matinal reported.

He recalled that several developmental projects which are people-centric have been implemented such as the Metro Express project, the construction of hospitals and the Supreme Court.

The drive to push the partnership to new heights in new domains of cooperation was also discussed, said Vinay Kwatra. He mentioned the areas of financial technology, infrastructure building, capacity building, and how to work together to meet challenges, Le Matinal reported.

Vinay Mohan Kwatra is India's 34th Foreign Secretary. He has served various roles in many of India's missions abroad and in the country. He earned a degree in International Relations from the Geneva Graduate Institute in 1992.

A career diplomat, Kwatra took charge as India's new foreign secretary on 1 May 2022.

He previously served at India's Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Prime Minister's Office as Joint Secretary. He has also served as Minister of Commerce at the Embassy of India in Washington, DC from May 2010 to July 2013.

From July 2013 to October 2015, he headed the Policy Planning & Research Division of the Ministry of External Affairs and later served as the head of the Americas Division in the Foreign Ministry, where he dealt with India's relations with the United States and Canada.

He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1988, serving as Third Secretary and then Second Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva until 1993 where he handled work relating to specialised UN agencies and the Human Rights Commission.

He then worked as a Desk Officer at Headquarters where he coordinated with the United Nations and subsequently found positions in the Diplomatic Missions in South Africa and Uzbekistan between 1993 and 2003.

Then, from 2003 to 2006, he served as Counsellor and later as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India located in Beijing, China.