On a State visit to Ghana, Indian PM emphasises that India supports Africa’s goal on priorities and seeks to grow together with Africa as equal partners.
Emerging dimension in India-Africa Relationship
- Amplification of Global South Voice: Inclusion of African Union as a permanent member of the G20 during India’s Presidency(2023).
- Joint Partnerships: E.g. India-Japan’s Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) for sustainable development and growth.
- Developmental Framework: E.g: India backs Africa's Development Framework, vision of Agenda 2063.
- Economic: India is the fourth largest trading partner for Africa with a bilateral trade of about US$100 billion and cumulative investments of more than US$ 75 billion. (June 2024)
- Reformed Multilateralism: India calls for greater African representation in global institutions, including the UN Security Council, in line with the Ezulwini Consensus.
- Renewable Energy and Climate Change: Participation of African countries in the International Solar Alliance (ISA), Global Biofuel Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
- Capacity Building: India supports African Union's focus of ‘Educate an African Fit for the 21st Century’ by capacity-building, training etc
- Cultural Ties: People-to -People relations via Extension of e-Visa facilities to 33 African countries.
Challenges:
- China’s Dominance: Via aggressive financing, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects, and infrastructure diplomacy; etc
- Project Implementation: India’s track record of non-completion of projects on time.
- Nuclear Disagreement: E.g: South Africa supports global non-proliferation treaties, while India resists joining them in present format citing discriminatory provisions.
Conclusion: India's engagement in Africa has been guided by Vision SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region), which was recently expanded to Vision MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement of Security and Growth Across Regions) for the Global South.
