Sushma Swaraj meets world leaders attending Pravasi Bhartiya Divas

Gandhinagar: In New Delhi's maiden engagement with the newly formed government in Mauritius, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday met Vice Prime Minister Showkutally Soodhun.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin tweeted a photograph of the meeting, which happened on the sidelines of the 13th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, with a caption saying this is the first meeting between New Delhi and Port Louis since the formation of the new government in December.

After Jugnauth's centre-right alliance Lepep swept the polls late last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had congratulated him on victory but today's was the first meeting between leaders of the two countries.

Swaraj also met President of Republic of Guyana Donald R Ramotar. Ramotar gifted Swaraj a coin commemorating the 1838 arrival of Indian indentured labour in the South American country, Akbaruddin tweeted.

After inaugurating the meet, Swaraj also held parleys with her South African counterpart Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, he told reporters, adding that the two leaders exchanged views on a host of issues.

"Swaraj had a fairly detailed discussion with the South African foreign minister. These included issues relating to the PBD and other issues as well," he said.

India has been holding PBD for 12 years now to coincide with the arrival of Mahatma Gandhi back to India from South Africa in order to acknowledge the contribution of the Indian diaspora to the the development of the country. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the young barrister Gandhi, who eventually went on to lead the country to independence.

At the meeting, Nkoana-Mashabane said this is a special occasion for the South Africans as well as they mark the 103rd anniversary of the African National Congress (ANC), the MEA spokesperson said.

Nkoana-Mashabane said South Africa will also be celebrating 100 years of Gandhi's arrival back to India because it feels Gandhi's stay there is as important as his contributions to the Indian freedom struggle, he said.