Lauding the peaceful conduct of general elections in the country, Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag, on Wednesday, said many countries in the world need to learn a lot from India.
Citing the election of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister despite his humble background, Purryag said he too came from a humble beginning, having been born in a hut.
Addressing the All India Conference of Intellectuals, India-Mauritius Relations and Emerging Trends in Improving Economy, he said the school he studied did not have flooring and there was no electricity at that time.
“India is a land of equal opportunities irrespective of any discrimination,” he said.
Observing that bilateral relations between India and Mauritius go beyond diplomacy and that the two countries share many similarities in history, he said, “there is a footprint of India in everything in Mauritius, be it the languages spoken, the culture or the traditions.”
“We are proud of our historical relations and we have not forgotten that India is the land of our ancestors,” he added.
He said Indians were taken to work in sugar plantations in Mauritius, before it became a free country.
The President said education played an important role in improving conditions in any country and in his country, education was free to everyone up to a certain level.
“It is the only way out of poverty”, he said.
Earlier Tourism Minister
R V Deshpande highlighted the tourism sector in Mauritius and how it contributes considerably to GDP of that country.
He said tourism sector contributes 20 per cent to the GDP of Mauritius. India, especially Karnataka, could emulate this, the minister said.
Justice H G Ramesh, judge of the Karnataka High Court who received an award of excellence on the occasion along with others, said about 68 per cent of the population in Mauritius was of Indian origin.