Africa a part of extended neighbourhood

[Vikrant]

Africa is a beautiful continent. It is full of promise in all spheres of life.

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India considers Africa a part of its extended neighbourhood, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Sunday.

She made the remark after inaugurating the India-Africa Friendship Rose Garden as a symbol of friendship between India and African nations.

The India-Africa Forum Summit starts here on Monday.

"Our relationship is distinctive and owes its origin to a common past that we share, a past which witnessed struggle against colonialism and social evils like poverty and illiteracy," she said.

"India considers Africa as a part of its extended neighbourhood."

Africa, the minister went on, was a fronter of new opportunities with substantial trade and investments.

"We are interested in Africa's economic growth and its integration with global economy."

Sushma Swaraj underlined the logic behind the rose garden.

"Flowers signify love, dedication, friendship and brotherhood," she said.

"So we chose to build Friendship Rose garden to symbolize India-Africa Friendship which in the coming years is going to blossom like the flowers of this garden."

She also recalled the times when Indian traders, using the seasonal monsoon winds, sailed to the east coast of Africa in search of mangrove poles, elephant tusks, and gold and gemstones.

"Our partnership with Africa is unique and dates back to our civilizational contacts through ancient seafarers, traders, intellectuals and monks.

"Today as one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, India is attaching the utmost importance to its economic engagement with the African countries," she said.

Speaking on the occasin, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said India and Africa were bound by a history of struggle against colonialism and injustice.

He said that Indian and African countries had a common vision to cope up the challenges of urban development, traffic and pollution.

"We may jointly fight these problems," he said.

Madagaskar Foreign Minister Beatrice Jeanine Atallah, Ethiopian Ambassador Gennet Zewide and diplomatic represantatives from the 54 African countries took part in the function.

Sushma Swaraj, Kejriwal and all the diplomats planted rose saplings.

NDMC chairman Naresh Kumar said the Rose Garden was developed within a month, and it had 6,000 plants of 65 varieties of roses from different parts of the country.

Africa a part of extended neighbourhood: India

 

[Vikrant]

India Announces $10 Billion Concessional Credit to Africa

New Delhi: India on Thursday announced a concessional credit of $10 billion to Africa in the next five years – a doubling of its existing commitment – and grant assistance of $600 million as Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the continent’s leaders to speak in “one voice” with it in pushing for UN reform and combating climate change and the threat of terrorism.

In his address at the 3rd India Africa Forum Summit (IAFS), Modi assured 41 heads of state and government and hundreds of senior officials from 54 African countries that India will extend all possible assistance to them including in areas of defence, security, trade and infrastructure development.

The event was the largest diplomatic event India has staged to date, with more leaders attending the summit than the 39 who came for the 1983 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting hosted by Indira Gandhi.

Though several African leaders paid tribute to earlier Indian leaders like Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru for laying the foundations of strong ties between Africa and India, Modi himself made no mention of his predecessors or of the Nonaligned Movement and the Bandung conference – key building blocks of the bilateral relationship.

In the concluding session, the summit adopted two documents – the ‘Delhi Declaration’ and the India Africa Framework for Strategic Cooperation to chart a new course of engagement in diverse areas with Modi describing it as a historic day for both sides.

“Today, it is not just a meeting of India and Africa. Today, the dreams of one-third of humanity have come together under one roof. Today, the heart beat of 1.25 billion Indians and 1.25 billion Africans are in rhythm,” he said.

On India’s development works in Africa, he said the government will strengthen the monitoring system to ensure effective implementation of the projects noting that “we are conscious of the shadow that falls between an idea and action, between intention and implementation.”

He said a joint monitoring mechanism with the African Union will be set up.

“To add strength to our partnership, India will offer concessional credit of $10 billion over the next five years. This will be in addition to our ongoing credit programme,” Modi said, adding India will also offer a grant assistance of $600 million which includes an India-Africa Development Fund of $100 million and a Health Fund of $10 million.

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India Announces $10 Billion Concessional Credit to Africa

 

[The Great Goose]

India> Pakistan

 

[Vikrant]

4 Things to Know About India’s Summit With African Leaders

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India wrapped up one of the largest bilateral summits in its history on Thursday, with over 50 heads of state or government and senior officials from across Africa converging in the capital, New Delhi, for the four-day India-Africa Forum Summit. As the South Asian nation pushes to increase its clout on the continent, where rival Asian superpower China has long flexed its diplomatic and economic muscle, here are four takeaways from the confab:

1. U.N. reforms
India has been lobbying to reform how the U.N. is governed, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking out for a change to the Security Council to better reflect today’s geopolitical realities. Top of the agenda is marshaling support for India’s place on the council as a permanent member. With that end in mind, the New Delhi summit saw marathon meetings between Indian and African leaders where Modi and his cohorts sought to win support for India’s candidacy.

2. Terrorism
The summit also focused heavily on terrorism and defense. The Westgate Mall attack in Kenya and the continuing raids by Boko Haram in Nigeria and neighboring states were brought up by the Kenyan and Nigerian Presidents, respectively. Modi has repeatedly voiced his concern regarding rising terrorism and the need to quash it. Cybersecurity, maritime security and defense cooperation were also on the agenda.

3. Climate Change
Modi called on the assembled African leaders to join an alliance of solar-rich countries at next month’s Paris climate conference, where the international community will gather to try to hammer out a successor to the Kyoto climate protocol. Both African nations and India want to “light up lives of our people and power their future,” Modi said, adding that it should be done in such a manner that “snow on Kilimanjaro does not disappear, the glacier that feeds the River Ganga [Ganges] does not retreat.”

4. Development Initiatives
India promised $10 billion in new credit and $600 million in grant aid to African countries. The money, which supplements other initiatives, comes as New Delhi attempts to swell its influence across the continent. But it remains well behind China, which is Africa’s largest trading partner.

India: 4 Things to Know About the African Leaders Summit

 

[Vastator]

Have fun India...

 

[Vikrant]

Africa wishlist for New Delhi: Help us fight Boko Haram, rebuild island, set up hospital

From help to fight the Boko Haram extremist outfit to expertise in taking care of cattle, African ministers sought India’s help in a variety of sectors as they met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Tuesday. They also asked for help to reconstruct an island destroyed in a volcanic eruption and set up a hospital in the world’s youngest country, as well as better defence technology and private investments in road and highways.

The ministers and officials are in New Delhi for the third India-Africa Forum Summit, to be held between October 26 and 30. Foreign ministers from African countries met Swaraj at separate bilateral meetings Tuesday.

Cameroon Foreign Minister Lejeune Mbella asked Swaraj for help in fighting Boko Haram, which has spread in Nigeria and several neighbouring countries. “The experts will have to discuss what kind of counter-terrorism or counter-insurgency training we can give. It will have to be discussed whether our experts will go there or their troops will come here,” Ministry of External Affairs joint secretary (southern Africa) Sanjeev Kohli said, adding that Delhi has responded “positively” to the request. Cameroon also sought private sector investments in roads and highways, water and energy conservation.

South Sudan Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin asked for Indian assistance in managing livestock in their country, as he felt India has experience in taking care of 14 million cattle. Benjamin also asked for help in setting up a hospital in Juba, South Sudan’s capital. Swaraj, on her part, asked for the South Sudan government’s intervention in providing security so that work on an oilfield in that country — which has stopped due to political violence — can be resumed.

Cape Verde Foreign Minister Jorge Homero Tolentino Homejo asked for India’s help in the reconstruction of one of the islands destroyed due to a volcano late last year.

Three villages on Fogo island have been abandoned and thousands of residents have had to be evacuated. Homejo also asked for help in the social sector, and Swaraj requested her to present specific proposals for her to consider.

South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, who hailed Mahatma Gandhi as a shared icon for the two countries, said that the defence technology developed as part of the Make-in-India campaign could be “beneficial” for many African countries. Keen on partnership on food security, she also sought more scholarships and technical assistance.

Malawi Foreign Minister George Chaponda asked for Indian assistance to develop small-scale mining. The country also supported India’s bid for the UN Security Council seat.

Zimbabwe’s representative, who described ties with India as “all-season friendship”, asked Swaraj for assistance in agriculture.
The representative of Ghana, whose trade with India has doubled in recent years, praised the Indian diaspora and sought more development assistance.

Africa wishlist for New Delhi: Help us fight Boko Haram, rebuild island, set up hospital

 

[Vikrant]

BEIJING: China may have bigger trade and investments in Africa but it can learn from India's approach of manpower training and technical support to African people, a Chinese daily said today, highlighting India's big push into Africa by holding the biggest summit of African countries.

"China can also learn from India's experiences of providing assistance to Africa", an article in the Global Times said advocating a "benign" competition can held New Delhi and Beijing.

"India p ..

Read more at:
China can learn from India's manpower training in Africa: Report - The Economic Times