Treasure Island

(In this essay from our quarterly issue 'Diaspora Southasia Abroad', Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Jyotirmoy Chaudhuri observes how state enabled tax evasion, money laundering and the loss of billions of dollars that rightfully belong to the citizens of India. See more from the issue here.) 

The Republic of Mauritius, the land of the now extinct dodo bird, is strategically situated. A small clutch of islands roughly 800 kilometres east of Madagascar, Mauritius is the easternmost point of the continent of Africa. Mauritius has always shared a special and unique 'umbilical' relationship with India: at least 60 percent of the country's population of 1.3 million are people of Indian origin, mostly descendents of indentured labour from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of Southern India who were taken to the island in the 19th century to work on sugar plantations.

These historical links have translated into a special relationship between the governments of India and Mauritius. The current chief of the National Coast Guard of Mauritius is an officer of the Indian Navy, while the national security advisor to the prime minister of Mauritius is a retired officer of the Indian Police Service. Mauritian Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam was the only non-Southasian head of government to be invited to Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony on 22 May 2014. India would like to see the country stay within its zone of influence and has arguably exerted its muscle to ensure this.