Diplomacy: Dr. Jaishankar opens the first Jan Aushadhi Kendra in Mauritius
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar inaugurated India’s first overseas “Jan Aushadi Kendra” in the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius, testifying to the “close” bilateral cooperation between the two countries, especially in the key health sector.
Dr. Jaishankar was in Mauritius on a two-day visit from July 16, one of the first countries he visited in his current term as External Affairs Minister (EAM), the media reported on Thursday.
Together with Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, the EAM on Wednesday inaugurated India’s first overseas Jan Aushadi Kendra, “testifying to the close cooperation between our countries, especially in the important sector of health,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) quoted him as saying.
More than 1,200 Jan Aushadhi Kendras have been set up across India to make affordable generic medicines available to all.
“Delighted to inaugurate along with Prime Minister @KumarJugnauth the first overseas Jan Aushadi Kendra in Mauritius. This Aushadi Kendra is the delivery of the promise made by PM @narendramodi,” Dr. Jaishankar said in a post on X.
“The India-Mauritius health partnership project will supply cost-effective, Made-in-India medicines to augment public healthcare and enhance well-being,” he added.
Dr. Jaishankar and PM Jugnauth also inaugurated a modern medical facility built with Indian grant assistance in Grand Bois on Wednesday.
The EAM called the Mediclinic the “newest expression of our friendship.”
“Joined Prime Minister @KumarJugnauth in inaugurating the new Mediclinic Project at Grand Bois in Mauritius. PM @narendramodi has rightly termed the India-Mauritius relationship as Khoon ka Rishta (blood relation),” he said in a post on X.
“Delivery of this project, which will provide healthcare services to more than 16,000 residents is the newest expression of our friendship. And of the people-centric development partnership that India-assisted projects offer,” he said.
“I’m told it will provide secondary health care for 16,000 people in the Grand Pois area, and we feel very proud to be a partner in this collaboration,” Dr. Jaishankar said at the inauguration event.
“We feel proud because, after COVID-19, health is a priority…All of us have become health conscious,” he said.
“We worry about things rightly so. But we also believe, all of us believe, that health is our right. And that right today, every government has a duty to deliver,” he said.
“For me to be part of such an important delivery event is something which is a matter of great satisfaction,” he said.
Dr. Jaishankar asserted that with new hospitals, new clinics, Jan Aaushadhi Kendra, new metros and new social housing projects coming up in India, and Indian children getting digital education, “it is natural that in our extended family, we would also like to share abroad and I am very glad today to have an opportunity to see that.”
Mauritian Prime Minister Jugnauth and Dr. Jaishankar also virtually inaugurated 12 India-assisted Community Development Projects, highlighting the “vibrant and people-centered India-Mauritius development cooperation,” the Foreign Ministry statement said.
During his visit, Dr. Jaishankar also met Mauritius’ top political leaders, including Opposition leader Arvin Boolell, and discussed ways to deepen India’s special and enduring partnership with the island nation.
