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Africa-India Summit underway
From: Zee Adu-Asante, GNA Special
Correspondent
New Delhi, April 8, Ghanadot/GNA – The first ever
Africa-India Forum is underway in New Delhi, India, to
brainstorm on how India can evolve its partnership with
African countries to meet the common challenges that
confront them.
Foreign Ministers from African countries, including Ghana,
Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia, South Africa and Tanzania were
among those who attended the ministers’ closed-door meeting
on Monday.
Sources close to the meeting said the two parties agreed to
co-operate in several areas including economics, trade,
industry and investment, agriculture, small and medium-scale
enterprises (SME) and finance.
They also agreed to cooperate in regional integration,
politics, science, technology, research and development, ICT,
water and sanitation and poverty eradication to meet their
challenges.
Africa and India also want to work towards food security,
eradicating poverty and improvement of the livelihood of
their peoples.
High on the agenda is capacity building and training to
increase the capacity of small land holders to help African
food producers to comply with the required quality and
safety standards.
Africa and India recognized the need to expand their two-way
trade, create greater market access, encourage trade
negotiations, dispute settlement and investment
facilitation.
Mr. Anand Sharma, Indian Minister of State for External
Affairs, said the forum had generated tremendous interest
worldwide, adding that Africa and India formed one-third of
the world’s population.
He said India looked forward to true partnership with Africa
to support its development since they shared a special
relationship based on equality and self-respect.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr. Akwasi
Osei-Adjei, Minister of Foreign Affairs, lauded the summit
and said India had the skills and technology to help Africa.
He said India’s move was not to exploit the natural
resources of Africa but to help eradicate some diseases and
hunger in Africa.
Presidents John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana, Thabo Mbeki of
South Africa, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Jakaya Kikwete of
Tanzania, Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria and Joseph Kabila
of Democratic Republic of Congo are among those attending.
Others are Presidents Mwai Kibaki of Kenya and Abdoulaye
Wade of Senegal; Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi,
Burkina Faso Prime Minister Tertius Zongo and Nigerian Vice
President Goodluck Jonathan.
Egypt’s International Cooperation Minister, Fayza Abou El
Naga would represent his country, Libya is being represented
by Ali Abdul Salam Altreki, African Union (AU) Minister,
while the AU delegation is being led by the AU Commission
President, Alpha Konare.
The summit will focus on forging a more contemporary
partnership in key areas like trade and investment, energy
and cooperation on global issues like the UN reforms,
terrorism and climate change in the light of political and
economic changes that have transformed India and African
countries over the last two decades.
The summit is also expected to launch an action plan to
strengthen economic and strategic partnership between India
and Africa.
Many experts see the India-Africa Summit as a diplomatic
exercise by New Delhi to counter the increasing economic
clout of China in oil-rich African countries.
Indian officials, however, emphasise that India is not in
competition with any country in Africa as its relations with
the continent are based on mutual empowerment through trade,
technology and human resource development.
GNA
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