Inaugural Address by Shri Nalin Surie, Secretary(West), Ministry of External Affairs, at the International Conference on “Africa-India Partnership in the 21st Century”

2 April, 2008

On behalf of the Ministry of External Affairs, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this International Conference on “Africa-India Partnership in the 21st Century”. At the very outset I would like to thank our distinguished Panelists from Africa who have traveled long distances to be with us here today. We are particularly grateful to them for having agreed to participate in this Conference at such a short notice. Our gratitude also to all the distinguished participants from India.

I would also like to express our sincere appreciation to the African Studies Association of India, the Research and Information System for Developing Countries and to the Indian Council of World Affairs for putting together this very important meeting of intellectuals. Director General, ICWA, Mr. Ashok Kumar has been the driving force behind this Conference and my special thanks go to him.

This Conference is part of a series of outreach activities that are being held in India to feed into the India-Africa Forum Summit being held in New Delhi on 8-9 April, 2008. This is a standalone Summit that is intended to allow the leaders of India and select African countries, chosen by the African Union, to brainstorm and devise ways and means of taking forward the India-Africa Partnership in the light of the changed circumstances, both of India and of Africa. I must stress at the very outset that the India-Africa Partnership is not new. It is age old and has been continuously evolving. Our effort now is to take into account the very fundamental changes taking place in Africa; the development and growth of democratic processes and pluralism, the rapid economic growth rates, the processes of integration and the expressed desire to take charge of their own destiny. Similarly, there have been fundamental changes in India. We are now a rapidly growing economy. Our democracy continues to flourish and we are today more integrated in the world economy than before. Our ability to help each other is far greater today than ever in the past. Our effort, therefore, is to build on complementarities and synergies to mutual benefit.

Viewed from the above perspective, your deliberations assume especial importance. The agenda of your meetings is a most meaningful one. Our expectation is that the outcome of your deliberations will provide us in the government, new and creative ideas on how best to deepen and diversify our partnership. The subjects that you are addressing, namely trade and investment, technological progress, human resource development and capacity building, energy and sustainable development, are all crucial for ensuring inclusive and rapid growth. Your individual expertise and your hands on experiences will, no doubt, help contribute enormously to the discussions in this Conference.

The India-Africa Forum Summit next week will allow the political leadership of India to interact at the highest level with the countries of Africa that currently chair the eight regional economic communities of that continent, the founder members of NEPAD, the current and past country Presidents of the African Union and, of course, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission. This is a most representative group of countries and covers all major parts of the continent. It will enable us to better understand the problems and priorities of Africa today and to agree on how best we can enhance our engagement with Africa to meet the socio-economic development requirements of individual nations and of the regional economic communities. The intention is to adopt, at the end of the Summit, a Declaration of political principles and an Action Plan. You would be happy to know that the Action Plan that is being discussed will benefit enormously from the outcome of your deliberations for the areas of focus in that document are quite similar to the content of your discussions.

India’s approach to its partnership with Africa has, from its inception, been based on the principles of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit. Our effort has always been to cooperate with the countries of Africa, within the framework of our capabilities and experiences and to help meet the requirements of Africa’s socio-economic development. We have, without any self interest, participated in major UN peacekeeping efforts in Africa to ensure that peace and stability is restored in areas where there has been conflict. Without peace and stability there can be no development.

As our own capabilities and resource base has grown, we have broadened the scope of our cooperative activities with the continent. More importantly, as India’s private sector has grown and begun to operate outside India, they have found useful opportunities in many countries on the continent. So too the Indian public sector which, in fact, in many respects pioneered India’s industrial and infrastructural outreach in many countries of Africa, including in the development of small and medium enterprises.

Distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen,

The opportunities for India and Africa to work together, bilaterally, through the regional economic communities, through public-private partnerships, through direct joint ventures and straight forward investment are enormous. They cover sectors such as agriculture, SMEs, health, education, infrastructure, information technology and communications, automobiles and other transportation systems, manufacturing and development of railways. The Lines of Credit that the Government of India has extended through the Exim Bank have opened the way for such greater engagement. There are risks involved but there is no life and profit without risk. It is the Government’s policy to encourage Indian industry, Indian entrepreneurs, agriculture and service personnel to build new cooperative partnerships in Africa. We can, for instance, visualize a situation where we have joint ventures producing foodgrains, pulses and oil seeds for export to India, in addition to domestic use and export to other countries.

India is also keenly studying the processes of integration that are taking place in Africa. These not only have political implications but also have a very important economic dimension. We are also fully aware and are in harmony with Africa’s desire for greater value addition of its produce within Africa. Our efforts at institutional capacity building have indeed been aimed at helping bring about such an outcome.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

India and Africa are inexorably linked. We have been and continue to be natural partners. We share a common vision of inclusive and equitable socio-economic growth for our people and a common world view. We stand together on critical issues such as the fight against terrorism, climate change, multilateral trade negotiations, UN reform and the reform of the International Financial Institutions. The Indian Ocean unites us. Africa is determined to find its true place in the international community. We stand by Africa in this endeavour and intend to be a close partner in its resurgence.

In conclusion, may I once again thank you for your patience in listening to me. I wish you success in your deliberations. We look forward to receiving the concrete outcome of this important Conference which will greatly help us in our ongoing efforts towards deepening and diversifying the India-Africa partnership and making it even more relevant in the coming decades.