India to pump cash: Pravind to knock down fuel-flour-oil prices?

The visit of the Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to Mauritius was about the internal affairs of the country.

That is what a source told WFTV today. “It was more about the upcoming budget and the support India will provide to the budget,” said the source.

From New Delhi, we are told the Indian Minister came to assure PM Pravind Jugnauth of India’s support.

However, she was barred from participating in any ‘politically motivated activities’ this time around.

The Indian government did not want to be seen dictating the ‘newbie’ Mauritian PM on his internal policies.

But that is what exactly spoke about.

New Delhi is promising additional funds to Pravind as the latter intends to take some extraordinary measures to calm the spirits in the country.

Most of the population is grumbling about the rising cost of living and one way to curb this situation is to bring down the prices of essential goods.

But the Mauritian economy is in such dire straits that any additional ‘subsidies’ would create a big hole in the national budget.

It would increase the debt ratio of the government to the GDP significantly, thus endangering the country’s economic performance.

However, India has promised those funds with strings attached.

We cannot reveal the conditions attached to this generous offer from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

But what is certain though is the PM cannot afford to reduce the prices of these major items without additional cash in hand.

Cash that he does not have to spare.

This is where Swaraj came in handy.

Swarajwasen route to the meeting of BRICS Foreign Ministers in South Africa when she landed in Mauritius.

It did not go without the scare of her plane going incommunicado with the Mauritian aviation authorities for 14 long minutes.

Swaraj will be back to Port Louis to oversee the preparations of the next 11th World Hindi Conference. The event is organized jointly by Government of India and the Government of Mauritius, and to be held in August.