The 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit opens in New Delhi this Tuesday 27 October 2015 and over 40 countries have been announced with high level delegations.
About 40 Heads of State or Government from Africa are expected in the Indian capital New Delhi tomorrow 27 October 2015 to either renew existing partnerships or take the ties higher. The two-day Summit has been mobilising public opinion and raising awareness among the over one billion Indians, most of whom are often preoccupied by their daily survival completely oblivious of the African continent with which they share much historical links.
Conscious of the need for Indians and Africans to give stronger push to relations in energy, agricultural, technological, educational, cultural as well as economic, diplomatic and political challenges they have for decades, the Honourable Prime Minister of Indian, Shri Narendra Modi has taken the centre stage in ensuring that the event should be a gluing success. The civil society in India like the Indian Association of Foreign Affairs Correspondents, IAFAC, and official circles like the Ministries of Trade and Foreign Affairs have been multiplying meetings to arrive at targeted goals.
Speaking to a group of African journalists invited on the sideline of the Summit, Prime Minister Modi said all 54 African countries invited for the event have indicated their willingness to be present. “Till now as per the information that we have received, 40 countries will be represented at the Head of State, Head of Government level, the rest are being represented by senior Ministers. This time, in association with the India-Africa Forum Summit there is also the Conference of Trade Ministers because we would want that in the days and months and years to come the economic relations between India and Africa should be further strengthened,” the Prime Minister pointed out.
Through a written response to questions earlier filed by the journalists before their arrival in India, he further outlined the guiding principles of the partnership that India and Africa intend to forge ahead. Mr Modi said; “Our approach to partnership with Africa is driven by the aim of empowerment, capacity building, human development, access to Indian markets, and support for Indian investments in Africa, so that the people of Africa have the capacity to make their own choices and capability to shoulder the responsibility of their continent’s development.”
Other key facts Prime Minister Modi revealed were the education of 25,000 African students in Indian universities within the past three years, 34 African countries enjoying duty-free access to Indian markets of 1.25 billion people, the Pan-Africa e-network which now connects 48 African countries to India as well as USD 7.5 billion in concessional credits being distributed in infrastructure development, public services and clean energy. He noted that; “Africa’s development is a huge opportunity for India, just as Africa’s resources including oil, power India’s economic growth and create wealth and jobs in Africa.”
Meeting for over 45 minutes with the African journalists at his office in India on Friday 23 October 2015, Prime Minister Modi recalled the historical ties that link India to Africa even before the period of legendary Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa, the similarities between his country and the African continent. He expressed the hope that the bilateral and multilateral ties India and Africa enjoy will jump forward after the current summit.
However, a workshop organised later the same day by the Association of Foreign Affairs Correspondents, IAFAC underlined the challenges that lie ahead such as the poor knowledge Indians and Africans have about each other, the pressure that Africa is facing from other international partners concerning resources on the continent. Participants included the Dean of African diplomats in India, Ambassador Gennet Zewide of Ethiopia, Rajiv Bhatia former Indian High Commissioner to South Arica and C.S. Narula, Adviser, India Africa Trade and Cultural Association.
The First India-Africa Forum Summit took place in 2008 and the second was in 2011, but both were limited in scope and content. Thus, the current gathering is the largest of its kind and the host country wants to enable it serve as a yard stick for measuring relations between India and Africa.
