March 17th – The day when diplomatic relations between Russia and Mauritius were established

By H.E. Irada Zeynalova | The Ambassador of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Mauritius

The year 2026 is yet another year of a friendship that officially started on March 17th, 1968, just five days after Mauritius became independent. The seeds of this friendship were sown long before March 1968, when young and inspired Mauritian people started to travel through five countries to get to the Soviet Union to become doctors, engineers, architects and linguists. 

Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam chose Moscow for his visits at the very beginning of Mauritian history as an independent State. Unfortunately, there are no photos of his meeting with the General Secretary of the Communist party, Leonid Brezhnev, in 1972, but just a year later, SSR came to Moscow again to meet with his counterpart – the head of the Soviet government Alexei Kosygin. They discussed the future of a fledgling nation that had become independent only five years before their meeting and was ready to find its own path. At that time, education, development and security formed the pillars of this future. Back in the 1970s, the two Prime-ministers, who spoke the same language – the language of justice and mutual respect – agreed to build a new world where all peoples would be free and happy. 

“Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam chose Moscow for his visits at the very beginning of Mauritian history as an independent State.”

We have already done a lot since then and even more is to be done. Moscow and Port Louis clearly understand that today, the world is undergoing tremendous changes. Roads to Africa are expanding, but it’s not an easy task to turn them into the roads of friendship, equality and mutual interest.

The year 2025 was a year of friendship. That year marked the 50th anniversary of the rescue operation carried out by the soviet sailors of cruiser ‘Dmitry Pozharsky,’ who were the first ones to help Mauritius to assuage the damage caused by the tropical cyclone ‘Gervaise.’ 

This year, we decided to present Mauritius with a dodo project devoted to the Mauritian national symbol destroyed by colonists. The dodo serves as a reminder of the fragility of both the world order and the tropical island where the Dutch colonists decimated the unique bird. This year, we remind Mauritius of this bird, because it is Russia who has carefully kept the one and only painting of a dodo drawn by Ustad Mansur from a real bird that used to live at the court of the Great Mogol. The original painting by Ustad Mansur is stored at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts in St-Petersburg, but we have brought to Mauritius an authorised copy of this painting and 38 drawings of the students of the Russian Academy of Arts who were inspired by Mansur’s artwork. These amazing canvases are currently exhibited at the Natural History Museum in Port Louis. 

The year 2026 will be the year of memory since the Russian Embassy and the Russian compatriots who live here in Mauritius are working on a project aimed at immortalising the memory of the Russian sailors of corvette ‘Olivutsa,’ who came to Mauritius in 1857. We strive to pay tribute to those who never returned home and who will forever rest in peace in the Western Cemetery in Port Louis. Russia and Mauritius have always been connected by the ocean, and these Russian sailors epitomise this unbreakable bond between our countries. 

Memory makes us people of our civilisation. That is the reason why we respect this long and arduous path that Mauritius went through to become independent. We remember negotiations that Mauritius had with the UK in 1965. We remember the decision on Chagos made by the International Court of Justice. We have always been supporting the sovereignty of every African State, including Mauritius, because we respect the rights of nations whose home is Africa. Especially now, when neocolonialism has been reborn and is trying to disguise itself behind new masks and under new names. Especially now, when former masters aspire not only to come back but to control Africa by economic means, Russia is ready to reiterate – ‘We are together.’ We all are free, equal and independent nations of one big UN family and we strongly believe that the African voice in the UN should be louder, particularly within the UN Security Council. It is high time Africa and Latin America became permanent members of the UN Security Council. 

This new year, rich with common memories, is extremely important. Firstly, the world is changing and each and every one of us has to build new ties, find their own place and fulfil their dreams in this new reality. Secondly, the world has already changed irrevocably, thus it is our shared responsibility to ensure that international law is respected and is not replaced by the principle of ‘might makes right.’ 

Today, we wish to congratulate each other on the day when official relations between our independent, equal states who have immense mutual respect, were established. 

We wish to fill the whole week with Russian music performed by students of the Moscow Conservatory. May this week bring our nations even closer and make it easier for us to understand each other. We have 58 years of common history behind us.