New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha on June 30 left on a five-day visit to Mauritius and South Africa mainly aimed at further bolstering bilateral ties with special focus on enhancing trade and economic co-operation.

Sinha, who flew to Port Louis from Chennai, will hold discussions with the Mauritian leadership during his two-day bilateral visit.

He will call on President, Vice President, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius besides holding wide-ranging discussions with his counterpart Anil Kumarsingh Gayan on the entire gamut of bilateral ties.

Considerable significance is being attached to his visit, the first at the foreign minister's level since 1997. Relations between India and Mauritius are marked by intensive interaction in diverse fields such as economy, trade, culture, defence, education, technical cooperation as also in the political arena.

Sinha will visit the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, the cyber city project and the Indira Gandhi Institute for Indian Culture besides interacting with a wide cross section of Mauritian businessmen and PIO community.

The two countries will discuss measures to boost cooperation by strengthening the existing mechanism such as the joint commission and by setting up joint working groups in various areas.

PTI