ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Mauritius–India offshore relationship, in which Mauritius exploited a major tax loophole in what was until then an essentially dormant double taxation agreement between the two countries, allowing Mauritius to channel capital into India in a tax advantageous manner for two decades before the Modi government closed the tax loophole in 2016. Mauritius was the largest foreign investor in India throughout this period. A supportive constellation of factors comprising economic conditions, domestic elites, and weak international pressure underlay the continuity of Mauritius as an offshore financial center for India. The longstanding relationship ruptured due to shifting domestic economic and structural conditions, several high profile offshore tax avoidance scandals, revised international norms concerning the offshore financial system, and a new configuration of domestic elites in both countries. India’s experience illustrates that resistant national action, as opposed to accommodative national behavior, is possible among emerging markets. Nonetheless, observers of India’s recent conduct should bear in mind that its present policy stance represents the culmination of a long era marked by accommodation amid gathering social contestation.
