SSR: Father of the Nation, Architect of Our Foreign Policy
International Relations
By Vijay Makhan
On the 126th anniversary of his birth, it is fitting to recall Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam not only as the Father of the Nation and the architect of our independence, but also as the statesman who gave newly independent Mauritius its first diplomatic compass.
On 18 September, the nation will remember the great political struggles that marked SSR’s life from the advance of universal suffrage to the battle for social justice, the difficult road to self-government and, ultimately, independence. These are central to his legacy. But another dimension of SSR’s statesmanship deserves equally serious reflection. He defined how an independent Mauritius should conduct itself in the world.
SSR with Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at the First World Hindi Conference, held in Nagpur, India, from January 10 to 12, 1975
I write with a particular sense of privilege. As a freshly appointed diplomatic officer, I had the honour to serve under Sir Seewoosagur when he held the portfolio of external affairs. It was an invaluable formative experience. One could not fail to be impressed by his poise, the breadth of his knowledge and his constant urge to remain abreast of international developments. He followed world affairs closely, not out of idle curiosity, but because he understood that events far beyond our shores could affect the future of Mauritius.
I also take pride in having been among those entrusted with the responsibility of translating that vision into concrete action. Alongside many dedicated colleagues, we helped to give it practical expression through our representations, our engagements and the patient building of relationships across the world. It was an immense privilege and honour to contribute, in however modest a way, to ensuring that Mauritius occupied its rightful place in the international community.
SSR understood the importance of building a diplomatic machinery worthy of an independent state. While retaining a close interest in foreign affairs, he made full use of the experience and capacity of Sir Harold Walter, whom he appointed full-fledged Minister of External Affairs in 1976, ahead of the OAU meetings hosted by Mauritius. It reflected SSR’s recognition that diplomacy required political direction at the highest level, but also competent ministerial and professional support. He made successful use of such stalwarts as Sir Satcam Boolell, Sir Veerasamy Ringadoo, Sir Kher Jagatsing as well as Sir Gaetan Duval and later on Kailash Purryag and Paul Bérenger, among others.
Small Island, Global Vision
For a small and vulnerable island emerging from colonial rule, foreign policy could not be an ornamental branch of government. It was a matter of survival, dignity and development. SSR knew that political independence would remain incomplete if Mauritius had no voice beyond its shores, no friendships to cultivate, no convictions to uphold and no capacity to defend its interests in the councils of the world.
This conviction was unmistakably expressed in the Legislative Assembly on 22 August 1967, when he moved the resolution which placed Mauritius formally on the road to independence. “By our decision today,” he declared, “we shall put Mauritius on the path of her destiny.” It was not simply a constitutional act. It was the affirmation that the Mauritian people were not merely entitled to freedom but also, to determine their own relations with the outside world.
Speaking at the United Nations on the admission of Mauritius, SSR gave that outlook its moral expression. “Although I come from a small country,” he said, “my Government and the people of Mauritius are very conscious of the honour of belonging to this great Assembly.” Mauritius would uphold the ideals of the UN Charter and “play fully our part in the struggle for justice, racial equality, peace and understanding among nations.”
This was not the language of a country content merely to take its seat in the community of nations. It was the statement of a nation determined to assume its responsibilities within it. SSR understood from the outset that the size of a state need not limit either the clarity of its convictions or the usefulness of its contribution.
He carried the thought further in the same address: “We as a small nation will bring our contribution, however modest it may be, to the shaping of the destiny of a better world.” The moral core of his approach: Mauritius would remain modest in its means, but never modest in its commitment to justice, peace and international cooperation.
The record of his interventions in the Legislative Assembly, his interactions at the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organisation of African Unity, as well as his bilateral engagements, reveals a consistent thread.
Mauritius was to be open to the world, friendly with all, beholden to none, and resolute in the defence of its sovereignty and national interest.
That was the essence of the foreign-policy path he traced.
SSR was never constrained by insularity. He knew our geography made us small in territory but did not condemn us to smallness of vision. Mauritius connected Africa and Asia through the Indian Ocean. It possessed historical, cultural and human links with India, Africa, Europe and the wider Commonwealth. In these realities, he discerned not a dilemma but an opportunity.
Indeed, in his 1968 UN address, he foresaw that “this remote island in the Indian Ocean” could become “one of the most important meeting places of East and West.” It was a remarkably prescient insight. It expressed the confidence that a plural Mauritius could make its diversity an instrument of international understanding. He therefore anchored Mauritius firmly within Africa while preserving and cultivating its other natural affinities and securing its own identity. Our membership of the OAU was not a matter of mere protocol. It reflected a political choice. Mauritius belonged to Africa and had a responsibility towards the continent’s unfinished struggles against colonialism, racism and apartheid.
The Diplomatic Compass
When Mauritius hosted the OAU Summit in 1976 and SSR assumed its chairmanship, it was a moment of particular significance. It demonstrated that even a young and small island state could provide a platform for African solidarity and make a meaningful contribution to continental affairs.
His adherence to non-alignment was equally purposeful. In the difficult decades of the Cold War, non-alignment did not mean indifference to the major issues of the day. Nor did it mean sitting on the fence. It meant retaining the freedom to judge, to speak and to act according to principle and national interest, rather than becoming an appendage of any great power.
He believed firmly in multilateralism. The UN was never simply another international forum. It was the place where the equality of states, however imperfectly observed in practice, could be affirmed; where colonialism could be challenged; where the weak could seek the protection of law; and where a small country could make its case before the world.
SSR’s outlook was at once principled and practical. The latter quality was strongly evident in another intervention in the Legislative Assembly, in June 1967, when Britain’s prospective entry into the European Economic Community raised serious anxieties for Mauritius. SSR moved a motion stressing “the vital necessity of protecting Mauritian sugar”. His language was unambiguous: “Sugar is our lifeblood… The CSA* is vital for us.”
Those few words tell us much about his conception of diplomacy. Foreign relations were not simply concerned with formal exchanges, protocol or distant political causes. They had to serve the country’s economic security, protect vital markets and create the conditions for development. International relations had therefore to be managed with care, foresight and realism.
This combination of principle and pragmatism was one of SSR’s greatest strengths. His diplomacy, in that sense, mirrored his politics at home. Just as he worked to hold together a plural society, he sought abroad a policy that avoided narrow alignment and drew strength from diversity. Mauritius could be African without being cut off from Asia; close to India while maintaining friendships elsewhere; attached to the Commonwealth while remaining uncompromising on decolonisation; committed to peace while vigilant in the defence of its interests.
The Chagos issue gives this legacy particular poignancy. The excision of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius prior to independence was a grave wound inflicted at the very threshold of nationhood. The long struggle that followed was carried forward by successive governments, diplomats and citizens. But its moral and political roots lie in the foundational conviction that Mauritius could not acquiesce in any diminution of its territorial integrity. That conviction has led today to the vindication, after many decades, of the principle that independence is indivisible, and sovereignty cannot be treated as negotiable.
We should be mindful not to turn SSR into a figure beyond history or criticism. No statesman is. But a mature nation honours its founders not merely by placing them on a pedestal, but by examining what they bequeathed and asking whether we remain faithful to its deeper purpose.
At a time when multilateralism is under strain, international law is too often disregarded and small states face growing strategic pressures, SSR’s foreign-policy inheritance deserves renewed attention. He taught us that Mauritius must be neither passive nor peripheral; that it must speak with conviction, build friendships widely and defend its rights patiently but firmly.
That is a tribute worthy of the Father of the Nation: not merely to remember the path he travelled, but to ensure that the diplomatic compass he gave Mauritius continues to guide us through the uncertainties ahead.
14 September 2026
* Commonwealth Sugar Agreement.
Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 18 September 2026
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