India will be hosting the next India-Africa Forum Summit in 2014 and it is trying to implement as many decisions of the earlier two Summits as possible, according to a senior official at the MEA.
India will host the next India Africa Forum Summit in 2014, according to Mr. Ravi Bangar, Additional Secretary (E & SA), Ministry of External Affairs.
Delivering a lecture on "India-Africa: A Partnership for the 21st Century" at Observer Research Foundation on 31 October, Mr. Bangar said India’s endeavour is to implement as many decisions of the earlier Summits as possible and take India-Africa cooperation to a new height by adopting mutually beneficial agenda.
He said under the decisions of the earlier Summits, India would be establishing approximately 100 capacity building institutions across Africa as areas of human resource development and capacity building have been at the forefront of partnership with Africa.
Mr Bangar said India, however, continue to face challenges in the establishment of institutes. In several cases, AU and RECs have failed to nominate hosts. In cases where hosts have been nominated, the hosts have been unable to nominate location or an implementation agency.
Mr. Bangar said a new area of cooperation is in in the defence and security Sector. Dialogues in this field have been going on for some time with Mauritius, Kenya and South Africa. And new agreements have been signed with Burkina Faso and Niger.
Mr. Bangar covered a large canvas talking about the resurgence of Africa and India’s traditional friendly relations with the continent.
He said India’s approach to Africa was based on the philosophy of Gandhi which was given practical content by Jawaharlal Nehru. "The Indian Ocean does not divide us, but unites us" he said. The longstanding relations with the continent have been marked by solidarity and cooperation. India’s Development Partnership has been based on no conditionalities, no prescription of policies and no questions of sovereignty. India’s strength has been in Human Resource development and Capacity Building.
The lecture was attended by 15 African Ambassadors/ High Commissioners and other members of the diplomatic corps, academics, Africa watchers, practitioners and the media.
n the Q & A session, Mr. Bangar clarified many queries. On the question of Lines of Credit (LOC’s), he pointed out that the talk of the total LOCs given by India goes to Africa. The implementation of the projects under LOCs has also become more efficient over the years. Because of the convergence of interests, it is truly a win-win partnership. "The new focus on creations of institutes in the African countries is to augment our efforts in capacity building", he said. He agreed with a comment that the Indian private sector’s role will be critical in enhancing cooperation.
Welcoming the Additional Secretary, Ambassador Viswanathan, Distinguished Fellow, ORF, explained the activities of the ORF Africa Studies Programme. The aim is to provide platforms for debates on issues related to Africa so as to have new discourses and create new narratives.
Full text of Mr. Ravi Bangar’s lecture
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