India, March 14 -- The agreements signed with Mauritius during PM Narendra Modi's visit to bolster defence and security cooperation will help shore up maritime domain awareness and enable the Indian Ocean island-nation to more effectively police its exclusive economic zone of more than two million square kilometres. India also agreed to provide more defence equipment to Mauritius, and the two sides will take steps for increased deployment of maritime assets for joint surveillance. India's need to more closely monitor regional waters has grown because of China's rising surveillance and hydrographic activities across the ocean, and cooperation with island-countries through forums such as the Colombo Security Conclave is vital in this context. The bolstering of ties with Mauritius, including upgrading them into enhanced strategic partnership, also comes amid trying times for India's relations with several other neighbours. It was significant that the Indian side proposed a project to Mauritius for monitoring extreme weather events, to be implemented under the umbrella of Quad....