{"id":250359,"date":"2023-07-01T20:49:56","date_gmt":"2023-07-01T15:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=250359"},"modified":"2023-08-31T14:56:08","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T09:26:08","slug":"a-new-chapter-in-india-africa-ties-can-be-written","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/a-new-chapter-in-india-africa-ties-can-be-written\/","title":{"rendered":"A new chapter in India-Africa ties can be written"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source-<\/strong> The post is based on the article \u201cA new chapter in India-Africa ties can be written\u201d published in the \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 1st July 2023.<\/p>\n

Syllabus:<\/strong> GS2- Bilateral and regional groupings<\/p>\n

Relevance-<\/strong> India and Africa relationship<\/p>\n

News-<\/strong> The 20-member Africa Expert Group (AEG), established by the Vivekananda International Foundation, recently presented the VIF Report entitled \u2018India-Africa Partnership: Achievements, Challenges and Roadmap 2023\u2019.<\/p>\n

What are some key takeaways from the report?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The report examines the transitions unfolding in Africa- demographic, economic, political and social<\/strong>. These changes along with the adverse impact of the pandemic and complicated geopolitics<\/strong> will transform the continent.<\/p>\n

It is slowly heading toward regional integration<\/strong>. It is devoted to democracy, peace and progress<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

There is high competition in Africa<\/strong> among at least half a dozen countries <\/strong>such as China, Russia, the United States, the European Union.<\/p>\n

It is for strengthening their relations with parts of Africa to ensure market access, gain energy and mineral security, and increase political and economic influence. <\/strong><\/p>\n

China has an edge over<\/strong> others with a consistent and robust policy <\/strong>since 2000. It is Africa\u2019s biggest economic partner<\/strong>. China has played the role of \u2018the infrastructure developer\u2019, \u2018the resource provider\u2019, and \u2018the financier.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since 2007, Chinese leaders have visited the continent 123 times, <\/strong>while 251 African leaders <\/strong>have visited China.<\/p>\n

India has a substantive partnership<\/strong> with Africa and a rich fund of goodwill<\/strong>. But it is essential for New Delhi to review its Africa policy<\/strong> periodically. It should stay resilient<\/strong> by making the required changes, and should focus on its implementation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is the way forward for India and Africa relationship as suggested by the report?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Political and diplomatic cooperation<\/strong>– It should be strengthened by restoring periodic leaders\u2019 summits<\/strong> through the medium of the India-Africa Forum Summit. <\/strong><\/p>\n

A new annual strategic dialogue <\/strong>between the chairperson of the African Union (AU) and India\u2019s External Affairs Minister should be launched in 2023.<\/p>\n

There is a need to forge consensus among G-20 members<\/strong> on the Africa’s entry into the G-20 <\/strong>as a full member. Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s recent communication to G-20 leaders requesting support for this proposal.<\/p>\n

MEA should have a secretary exclusively in charge of African affairs<\/strong> to further enhance the implementation and impact of the Africa policy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Defence and security cooperation<\/strong>– The government needs to increase the number of defence attach\u00e9s <\/strong>deployed in Africa and expand dialogue on defence issues<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It should widen the footprint of maritime collaboration and expand lines of credit<\/strong> to facilitate defence exports.<\/p>\n

More can be done to increase the number of defence training slots and enhance cooperation in counterterrorism, cyber security and emerging technologies.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Economic and development cooperation<\/strong>– India-Africa trade touching $98 billion in FY22\u201323 <\/strong>is an encouraging development. This figure can go up if access to finance through the creation of an Africa Growth Fund<\/strong> is ensured.<\/p>\n

A special package to improve project exports<\/strong> and build up cooperation in the shipping domain <\/strong>has been suggested. A special focus on promoting trilateral cooperation and deepening science and technology cooperation<\/strong> could pay rich dividends.<\/p>\n

Socio-cultural cooperation<\/strong>– It should be increased through greater interaction between universities, think tanks, civil society and media organisations<\/strong> in India and select African countries.<\/p>\n

Setting up a National Centre for African Studies will be the right step. Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) and ICCR scholarships<\/strong> awarded to Africans should be named after famous African figures.<\/p>\n

Visa measures<\/strong> for African students who come to India for higher education should be liberalised. They should also be given work visas for short periods.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The report suggests a special mechanism for implementing the \u2018Roadmap 2030\u2019<\/strong>. This can best be secured through close collaboration between the MEA and the National Security Council Secretariat.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source- The post is based on the article \u201cA new chapter in India-Africa ties can be written\u201d published in the \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 1st July 2023. Syllabus: GS2- Bilateral and regional groupings Relevance- India and Africa relationship News- The 20-member Africa Expert Group (AEG), established by the Vivekananda International Foundation, recently presented the VIF Report… Continue reading A new chapter in India-Africa ties can be written<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[212,239,238,10498],"class_list":["post-250359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-international-relations","tag-ir","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":15,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1700117897},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250359\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}