Round The World

New Delhi, 12 January 2010

Ansari’s Tri-Nation Visit

REVIVING INDIA’S AFRICA POLICY

By Monish Tourangbam

Research Scholar, School of International Studies, JNU

Rejuvenate India and African nations share a long history of cultural ties cemented by their common struggle against colonialism. The bonds have been further strengthened with common reverence for Mahatma Gandhi, who started his historic struggle against the British Empire in South Africa. Post-independence, India and Africa have often stood together in the interest of the developing and under-developed countries through the Non-Aligned Movement and other organizations like the G-77. Moreover, India has been unwavering in its support for independence and pro-democracy movements in the African continent.

But, in the changing dynamics of the international system, New Delhi cannot bask in the glory of historic ties but should surge ahead to re-energize the relationship. It is in the context of these opportunities and challenges that the recent tri-nation Africa visit (a week-long visit to Zambia, Malawi and Botswana) of Vice-President Hamid Ansari assumes importance. Obviously, the visit may be questioned as being too late, too little but a fruitful initiation has been made, a chord has been struck and it is upon both the sides now to create a symphony.

Accepting that intensity of the engagement did wane in recent times, Ansari himself stated, “The fact that we remembered that and took steps to correct it is what is important.” A pragmatic move made by both the sides to reinvigorate the relationship came in the form of the first-ever Indo-African Summit held in New Delhi in 2008.  The summit was a major success in forging ahead India’s commitment to strengthening ties with the Continent in tune with a rapidly globalizing world. 

In recent times, India’s liberalization of the economy has taken it to a new level of growth.  A successful democracy, a leader in information technology and service industry makes India a model and a prospective partner for many African countries. On the other hand, many parts of Africa have been fairly successful in discarding the images of a “dark continent” identified with only poverty, ethnic conflicts and diseases. The fact that Africa is home to a large chunk of the world’s untapped natural resources have caught the attention of countries around the world. Thus, there is enough complementariness on the basis of which Africa and India can build a sustainable relationship suiting today’s world.

Two major documents signed during the Indo-Africa Summit, viz. the Delhi Declaration and the Framework for Cooperation were major leap forward in the process of rejuvenating ties. And the recent three-nation visit to Southern Africa by Mr. Ansari is a major footprint in taking the relations to a new level.  He has created the right atmosphere in putting forth a policy that is devoid of aggression, based on the ideas of mutual respect and consent.

Explaining that the visit to three countries--Zambia, Malawi and Botswana--were part of a process of re-engaging the continent, he clarified more African countries would soon receive high-level visits. Representing the EXIM Bank of India, Prabhakar Dalal, Executive Director, inked a pact for extending a $ 50 million Line of Credit to the Zambian Government for the Itezhi Tezhi Hydropower Project being constructed by the Itezhi Tezhi Power Corporation, a joint venture between Zambia’s ZESCO and TATA Africa Holdings.

Another Line of Credit worth $75 million for two years and a grant of $ 5 million for Zambia’s social sectors were also announced. Ansari reflected on the success of the ITEC (the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation) programme for Zambia, with around 2300 civilians trained in India so far. It was launched as a bilateral assistance programme in 1964 by the Indian government, based on cooperation and partnership for mutual benefit. Defence cooperation between the two countries was also highlighted as an important achievement.

In Malawi, Ansari advocated the use of the Pan African E- Network to re-energize existing bilateral ties, bridging the socio-economic and digital divide. The project was hailed as a shining symbol of South-South cooperation, aiming to connect the 53 African countries for the purpose of tele-education and tele-medicine and video-conferencing among all the Heads of State in Africa. India announced a Line of Credit of $50 million to support the development goals of Malawi, a grant of $ 1 million as emergency relief for the rehabilitation of Malawi earthquake victims and another $ 4 million in grants to support Malawi’s development in agriculture, health and education sectors.

Both sides explored the possibility of entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the development of the mineral resources in Malawi, particularly uranium and coal. A joint communiqué agreed to expedite negotiations to finalize the MoU. The recent uranium discovery in Malawi has attracted world attention. The atmosphere and the camaraderie between the two nations seems perfect for going forward with the process of institutionalizing a pact in the energy sector and it would be a diplomatic blunder for both not to capitalize on this nascent energy resource in Malawi.

India and Botswana signed two MoUs to boost bilateral cooperation in the fields of agriculture and education, agreeing to set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) to review the progress in these agreements and ensure they were implemented. Bilateral discussions were held on issues, including India’s ongoing “training of the defence forces of Botswana” and assistance in vocational training by experts from India.

According to official sources, the talks did not cover the issue of diamond trade. Previously,  Ansari expressed his wish to discuss sourcing of uncut diamonds directly from Botswana, bypassing the diamond “monopoly”, referring to the South African conglomerate De Beers that dominates mining and trade in diamonds, and is often accused of monopolistic practices. The Bostwana government was reassured of India’s continued support with capacity building programmes, in areas considered primary by Botswana, re-emphasizing that India did not believe in imposing its own ideas or in making any attempt to influence the decisions of a mutual and equal partner. Discussing regional issues, both sides agreed to the need for democratic restoration in Zimbabwe and the Republic of Congo.

The tri-nation visit also reiterated the need for concerted effort towards issues like reforming the United Nations (particularly the UN Security Council), climate change negotiations and anti-terrorism. There was a show of unity and commonalities between these African nations and India on such international issues.

Keeping in view the inevitable competition between two rising powers, India and China, the Chinese overarching economic influence in Africa did come up for discussion. For records, China’s trade with Africa is to the tune of $116 billion compared to India’s $ 39 billion. But the Vice-President set the record straight by opining that the Indian style was not aggressive and neither prescriptive. India and China are two entirely different systems of government with different styles of functioning, reflecting in their foreign policies. Keeping the economics of the relationship in mind, there should be an effort for a collective goodwill based on the respect for democracy, human rights and the mutuality of a relationship. As Ansari commented, “The elephant walks at its own pace. But the elephant is not to be underestimated.” --INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)