Africa-Press – Mauritius. For the first time, a Canadian Prime Minister received his Mauritian counterpart face to face. In the past, former Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam had met his Canadian counterpart (Stephen Harper) on the sidelines of an annual Commonwealth conference.
But never before have the heads of government of Canada and Mauritius discussed matters of bilateral and international concern. Does the meeting between Pravind Jugnauth and Justin Trudeau last Sunday in Addis Ababa on the sidelines of the 33rd African Union summit promise a new era of collaboration between the two countries?
context First, let’s set the context for this meeting. On both sides, there was undoubtedly a mutual interest. Justin Trudeau came to meet African heads of state at the African Union summit to solicit their support for Canada’s candidacy for the post of non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for a period.
two years. Its approach is in line with Canada’s commitment to the world in favor of international causes as important as the fight against climate change, world peace and the advancement of liberal democracy and human rights.
man in developing countries. The last time Canada applied for the post in the 2010s, it was edged out by a European country when it came time to vote in the absence of sufficient support among UN members.
At the time, Canada’s unconditional support, under a Conservative government, for Israel’s policy in the occupied Palestinian territories was not appreciated by many African and Arab countries.
This time around, Trudeau’s diplomatic move is going under better auspices because Canada, under his leadership, has returned to its traditional policy of supporting the proposal to establish two independent states in Palestine, the State of Israel.
and a Palestinian state, as a preferential solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Recently, Canada abstained from passing a UN resolution condemning the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, which angered the Israeli regime.
In the UN arena, Canada is competing with Norway and Ireland for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, and these two countries will also seek support from African Union countries.
It remains to be seen whether Trudeau’s charming diplomacy will ultimately win the day. The Chagos Trudeau undoubtedly pleaded the cause of his country to his Mauritian counterpart.
It is very likely that Mauritius will support the Canadian candidacy in the hope that Canada, in turn, will show reciprocity by granting him its support for the Mauritian claim of sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago.
It should be noted that Canada is one of the countries which abstained from the vote on the UN resolution calling for the return of the Chagos to the State of Mauritius, before the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice ( ICJ) in favor of Mauritius in the dispute with Great Britain.
At that point, Canada probably did not want to distance itself from the British and the Americans, who are its allies in the G7 group and NATO. He had taken the same position as France and Germany.
Today, the geopolitical situation has changed somewhat in the world. On the one hand, there is Brexit, which weakens the European Union with which Canada negotiated a free trade agreement.
On the other hand, all countries complain about the political isolationism of the United States, which favors American disengagement in the world and bet on the end of multilateralism embodied by the European Union, NATO and the United Nations.
Under a liberal government, Canada is more committed to the practice of the multilateral approach to respond to the challenges of global climate change and regional conflicts, in the same way as the European countries which have been the historical sources of immigration for this country.
Bilateralism In this regard, Canada might be more sensitive to Mauritius’s claim to sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago, although one should be wary of any blissful optimism.
The British and the Americans are supporters of bilateralism when it comes to settling disputes between states and they would prefer Canada to abstain from taking sides in the dispute between Mauritius and Great Britain over the Chagos issue.
Moreover, Great Britain and the United States do not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICJ and do not care about its judgments. And the British and the Americans have already said that sovereignty over the Chagos is a bilateral issue to be settled at the negotiating table.
Despite his dealings with Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, Trudeau has no chance of softening their stance on the Chagos issue as any handover of the Chagos would set a precedent for the Palestinians and other peoples who have been dispossessed of their land and want to to get them back.
Mauritian Diaspora Whatever Canada’s ultimate position on the Chagos issue, Mauritius has an interest in drawing closer to Canada, which is the adopted country of a growing number of Mauritian emigrants.
The two countries share certain common values such as membership in the Commonwealth and the Francophonie, and attachment to liberal democracy. Historically, Mauritius has favored relations with settlement countries such as India, China, certain African countries and also France.
It is time to get out of this straitjacket and get closer to the countries that are the preferred destinations for Mauritian emigrants, including Canada and Australia.
There is in Canada a large Mauritian diaspora which does honor to its adopted country with its full integration into the multicultural Canadian society and a significant presence in business, public administration and the liberal professions.
There are at least three generations of Mauritian immigrants in Canada and their belonging to their adopted country is strengthened every day without denying their roots.
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