Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to embark on a two-day state visit to Mauritius on Tuesday. He will grace the island nation’s 57th national day celebrations as the chief guest. During the visit, India and Mauritius are set to ink a raft of agreements to advance economic and security ties. A contingent of Indian armed forces will also participate in the celebrations, along with a warship of the Indian Navy and the Akash Ganga skydiving team of theIndian Air Force. The two sides will also sign several agreements in the field of capacity building, bilateral trade, tackling cross-border financial crimes and promoting small and medium enterprises, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said. India has close and longstanding relations with Mauritius, an island nation in the Western Indian Ocean. A key reason for the special ties is the fact that people of Indian origin comprise nearly 70 per cent of the island country’s population of 1.2 million (12 lakh) India has helped expand a strategic airstrip and jetty on Agalega, one of the outer islands of Mauritius to bolster the country’s ability to monitor its vast exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 2.3 million sq km. The trade between the two countries has grown by 132 per cent in the last 17 years, from USD 206 million in 2005-06 to USD 554 million in 2022-23.