High Commissioner
Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Mauritius
The month of March is extremely important for both Mauritius and Pakistan. It was March 12, 1968 when Mauritius got its independence from the British rule and again, on the same date in 1992, Mauritius became a Republic. We recently celebrated the 55th anniversary of the independence of Mauritius and 31st anniversary of it becoming the Republic. On this occasion, messages of felicitations, wishing prosperity of the government and the people of Mauritius were conveyed by the President, Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister of Pakistan to their Mauritian counterparts. For Pakistan, it was March 23, 1940 at the 27th session of All India Muslim League (AIML) at Manto Park, Lahore, when Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in his historical address laid the foundations of a separate homeland for the Muslims of British India. The AIML passed a resolution, named ‘Lahore Resolution’ that, for the first time, demanded independence from British India. That is why, each year, Pakistan celebrates its National Day on March 23. Similarly, it was the same day in 1956 when Pakistan promulgated its first Constitution and marked the transition from dominion status to that of an Islamic Republic making the President as the ceremonial Head of the State and abolished the position of Governor General.
It all started when after the 1857 War of Independence, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan advocated that Muslims of British India should focus on their education, particularly on English language. He founded the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College in 1875 in Aligarh, that later became Aligarh University in 1921. To support the voices and political rights of the Muslims of the sub-continent, All India Muslim League was established in 1906. A lot of political efforts were put in between 1906 – 1937 in terms of meetings of Muslim delegations with the British rulers, debates at the meetings of Indian National Congress (INC) by Mr. Jinnah on protection of Rights of the Muslims (Jinnah remained as the member of INC until 1920), internal meetings of AIML in evolving the political thought process for a separate homeland etc. Jinnah joined the AIML in 1913. Mr. Jinnah, with his astute skill and vision, was able to convince all Muslim leaders to come under one flag of AIML and resolve their internal issues for the larger interest of the only political organizations of the Muslims of that time.
Maulana Muhammad Ali Johar, Maulana Shaukat Ali Johar, A.K.Fazlul Haq, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Allama Muhammad Iqbal and Muhammad Zafarullah Khan are some of the prominent leaders of Pakistan Movement. Allama Iqbal, through his poetry and literature invoked the Islamic values, culture, history and political thought in the Muslims of the sub-continent. Iqbal is also acclaimed as the one who dreamt about a separate homeland which he mentioned in his famous Allahbad address of 1930. It was Iqbal’s high intellectual caliber that convinced Jinnah to join AIML and take the baton for the protection of rights of the marginalized community. In 1929, Jinnah put forward his famous 14-Points agenda that gave a comprehensive roadmap for a true democracy and defined future federal structure with complete provincial autonomy and religious liberty for all in all legislatures. This political strategy of Jinnah led the Muslims of the sub-continent to participate in 1937 elections on separate electorate system.
AIML was not able to win sufficient seats in 1937 elections to form government in any of the eleven provinces. Hence, Jinnah had to review his political strategy. Jinnah met Lord Linlithgow, the Viceroy of India on March 13, 1940, where he was given assurance that no political settlement would be undertaken without the AIML’s involvement. Within 10 days of the meeting, ‘Pakistan Resolution’ was passed where Jinnah declared that no constitutional plan would be acceptable to Muslims unless it was built on the basic premise and principle “that geographically contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so constituted, with such territorial adjustments as may be necessary, that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in the majority, as in the North-Western and Eastern zones of India, should be grouped to constitute ‘independent state’ in which the constituent will be autonomous and sovereign”. He galvanized the AIML altogether into a mass movement that orchestrated the demand for a separate homeland. The Lahore Resolution was in fact a constitutional blueprint that provided features of a federation with creation of autonomous units in such geographical locations where Muslims were in the majority. The strategy also addressed the communal and constitutional conflict of the sub-continent by proposing creation of two independent states. Under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, this dream was realized on August 14, 1947 when Pakistan came into being as an independent State.
Jinnah was a true democrat and believed in nationhood based on secular orientation. In his speech at the inaugural session of the Constituent Assembly in August 1947 he said, “Islam and its idealism has taught us democracy. It has taught us equality of men, justice and fair play to everybody. In any case, Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic state. You are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan.” Jinnah considered democracy as the best system because it does not discriminate on account of religion, gender, race, caste and creed.These were the attributes, caliber and character of Jinnah and above all his role in steering the whole movement of independence, that he was declared as the ‘Father of the Nation’ and ‘Quaid-e-Azam’.
Pakistan Day is celebrated with fervor by Pakistanis around the world. In Islamabad, like in other provincial capitals, the day starts with flag hoisting ceremony by the President of the Islamic Republic followed by official gun salutes, impeccable display of military parade, flying pass and other cultural events and ceremonies. Later in the day, the President of Pakistan confers civil and military awards to its citizens and foreigners who rendered meritorious services for the country. It is with great complements; the High Commission recently announced that this year the President of Pakistan shall bestow ‘Tamgha-e-Imtiaz’ upon Mr. Achad Bhaglah an eminent scholar and former civil servant of Mauritius. From 1975-81, Mr. Bhaglah completed his graduate and master’s degree from Karachi University. He is the founding member of the alumni of Mauritian students who studied in Pakistan – ‘Friends of Pakistan’. Achad Bhaglah is also active at social front and has assisted a number of students and businessmen from Mauritius in their studies and businesses in Pakistan. We congratulate Mr. Bhaglah and also the Mauritian nation on this proud distinction and acknowledgement of his services by the government of Pakistan.
Pakistan-Mauritius relations are deep rooted in history. Pakistan emerged as a country on world map in 1947 and Mauritius got independence in 1968, however, our links are centuries old. The migration to Mauritius, that took place during 17th and 18th centuries, also included people from cities that are now part of Pakistan. Both the countries always maintained friendly relations. In past 15 months or so, the governments of both the countries have cooperated in multiple areas. The High Commission of Pakistan in Mauritius conveys it gratitude to the leadership of Mauritius for providing access and facilitating in all its endeavors in this beautiful country.
In collaboration with the Mauritian authorities, the High Commission organized ‘Pakistan Week 2022’ (PW22) to commemorate 75th anniversary of the Independence Day of Pakistan and 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Mauritius from September 2-9, 2022. The PW22 activities included an Essay Competition, Pakistan Film Festival, Friendly Cricket Match, Qawali/Sufi Night, Painting & Photographic, Handicrafts Exhibitions, Pakistan Food Festival and Independence Day Reception followed by a Musical Concert by Faisal Kapadia and band. The High Commission is once again grateful to the Mauritian leadership for attending all the 8 events of PW22. The government of Pakistan is also grateful to the government and people of Mauritius for donation of five million Mauritian Rupees for the flood victims in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Engage Africa Policy is a dynamic vision through which Pakistan intends to develop deep relations with African nations through enhanced people to people contact and increased bilateral trade with the continent of 55 countries. We consider Mauritius as the gateway to Africa and hence to capitalize the Mauritian location and access, a number of proposals are under active consideration on both sides.
Pakistan is keen to host the 2nd round of Bilateral Political Consultations between the two Foreign Ministries as well as the 11th session of the Joint Working Group on Trade between Pakistan and Mauritius in Islamabad during 2023. We hope with the convening of these two major meetings, Pakistan and Mauritius shall be able to open new chapter in furthering our bilateral relations.
Both the countries, in the past four months, signed three Memorandums of Understanding including; Agreement on “Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters” signed on December 19, 2022, ‘Cultural Exchange Program 2023-25’ signed on January 26, 2023 and the MoU on “Cooperation in Combating Illicit Trafficking and Abuse of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and their Precursors” signed on February 27, 2023. The Parliaments of both the countries are in the process of institutionalizing the Parliamentary Cooperation through signing of an MoU and materializing bilateral visits of the Speakers of the Parliament.
Although the volume of bilateral trade is low, we still hope that business sector of both countries may explore complementarities between their respective markets and work on win-win deals. There had been visits of Mauritian trade delegations to Pakistan in February 2022 and January 2023. A delegation of Mauritian businessmen also participated in the 3rd Pakistan Africa Trade Development Conference that took place in Johannesburg in November 2022. With a new strategy of short, medium and long-term targets for enhancing bilateral trade, the government of Pakistan has appointed Ambassador Rafick Elahee as the Honorary Investment Counsellor (HIC) of Pakistan in Mauritius. Mr. Elahee is a leading businessman engaged in pharmaceutical and textile sectors. He has also served as Mauritian High Commissioner to Pakistan and has a grip on diplomatic practices and procedures. It is expected that with the appointment of Ambassador Elahee as HIC, the economic and trade relations between our two countries will witness a sharp increase in coming years.
A number of proposals that shall give boost to the trade and economic relations of both countries are under negotiations which include import of frozen meat, establishing air-links between Pakistan and Mauritius, promotion of tourism, cooperation in education and scientific fields, increased number and disciplines of scholarships, proposals for joint production of films in Mauritius and institutionalizing cooperation at the election commissions of the two countries.
In the end, the High Commission would also like to thank the wonderful people of Mauritius who have shown their warmth, love and affection for Pakistan. It is hoped that 2023 shall prove to be a successful year in bolstering relations between Pakistan and Mauritius.
