Hopeful of achieving some fine-tuning of DTAA soon: Mauritius minister

Discussions for fine-tuning the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) are on and some critical changes are likely to be finalized soon, Mauritius Minister of Financial Services & Economic Planning, Jyoti Jeetun, said in a one-on-one conversation with Ruchika Chitravanshi in New Delhi. The minister said that Indian businesses are resilient and would come out of the US tariff setback, while stressing how Mauritius can be a bridge to expanding markets in Africa. Edited excerpts:

- Jyoti Jeetun

After changes to the DTAA, share of FDI and FPI from Mauritius has come down. Do you see DTAA impacting it and would you interact with India to change the clauses?

For over 30 years, we were the largest FDI driver to India. Since the DTAA was amended in 2016, Singapore is first, the US is second, and we are consistently third for a number of years now. It is what it is. There has been a critical changing of clauses which have not been ratified yet. We are still discussing it. I am very hopeful that some fine-tuning will happen, and it will be finalized very soon. What I also say to my people back home is that India is growing as an economy. It's predicted to be the third largest economy in the years to come. So as the pie is getting bigger, we must try our best to get a fair share of it. So it is up to us now to work, not just based on the DTAA, but also find other areas where we can grow our partnership with India.

Are there any issues that investors have flagged that India must address?