NEW DELHI: In return for allowing India to tax investments routed through it, Mauritius wants an economic aid package.
With this demand, the finance minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth, met Arun Jaitley on Thursday.
“Mauritius feels that the change in the bilateral tax treaty will lead to flight of companies from Mauritius, which will lead to job losses,” said a top official in finance ministry.
India is thinking about a line of credit and investments in the island nation to develop infrastructure, keeping in mind, political benefits of having a friendly and stable neighbour.
“Mauritius wants India’s help in developing their infrastructure sector. They want India’s promise for sustained direct investment in that country,” said the source quoted above.
“They are strategically placed around India. We don’t want to cede space to other countries to jump in and take advantage of these small nations,” said another source.