Official Spokesperson (Shri Vikas Swarup): Good evening friends and welcome to my third press briefing of the day. `This also must be some kind of a record I suppose, doing three press conferences in one day. You had the ‘Geeta press conference’ at 3 o’clock; then we just had the press conference on Vice President’s visit to Indonesia and Brunei; and now we are going to talk about the India-Africa Forum Summit.
I have with me Dr. C. Rajasekhar who is the newly appointed Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. Earlier he was our Ambassador to Cuba. He is going to tell you about the cultural components that ICCR is going to be handling during the India-Africa Forum Summit. I am also expecting my predecessor and good friend to all of you, Syed Akbaruddin, who will tell us a little bit more about the remaining cultural components as well as on the logistics side because I have been hearing a lot of queries from all of you on what is the magnitude, the sheer scale at which this IAFS is happening, first time that India is getting all 54 African countries on a common platform. So, those kinds of details I am sure Akbar would be in a position to share with you including how many Heads of State are finally coming. I hope he is in a position to share that information with you.
With that, I think let us dive straight into the cultural part being handled by ICCR. I give the floor now to Dr. Rajasekhar.
Director General, ICCR (Dr. C. Rajasekhar): Thank you very much Vikas, and a very warm welcome to each and every one of you. Actually I hoped and tried sincerely to reduce your burden today a bit by doing this on Saturday. Some of you may have got invitation that we wanted to do it. But on second thought we thought that this is better to do it today rather than troubling you on a Saturday evening. Anyway, we all have seen how festive colours Delhi is sporting. To add to that, on the part of ICCR we are doing a couple of things in the public domain.
To begin with, there was a curtain-raiser performance on Saturday the 24th. We have specially flown in groups from different countries in Africa – from Ethiopia, from Egypt, from Ghana, Uganda and Zambia. Fifty-seven performers have been flown in specially. After I finish my remarks, I will show you a little clip of their performance at the Nehru Park on Saturday. We have organized different shows. For example, Nehru Park was on 24th. Then on 31st evening again at 6:30 there will be a full performance. Then the Ethiopian group is going to perform in Guwahati on 1st November. Later another group of Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia and Ghana would perform in Vadodara, Gujarat at Parul University on 3rd November. This is one aspect. We will show the clip later.
In addition to that we are doing one more thing which is as a follow-up to this and also as a welcome and to have a greater engagement. We are doing Artist-in-residence. So, we are going to bring in 54 countries in two phases – 27 artists in 2016, and 27 artists in the following year. Fifty-four artists will be brought in and they will be here in residence with as many Indian artists. Together they will work and they will create a body of work which will be going around both in India and also in Africa to promote lasting, enduring bonds of friendship. So, these are the two in the public domain. Of course we are also doing a big event, nicely blending both Indian and African presentations, at the Rashtrapati Bhawan when the Hon. Rashtrapatiji would be hosting the Heads of States.
(Video clip of nine-member Ethiopian Group’s performance played.)
The fuller version of this performance you can enjoy on the 31st at the Nehru Park. A special welcome to our media friends from Africa. In case you have any questions, I will be happy to answer. Thank you.
Question (Yusuf Ali, Managing Editor, The Nation, Nigeria): I have only two questions. One, I want to know the level of preparation for this India-Africa Forum Summit. How many Heads of State or Government?
Official Spokesperson: Yusuf, I am sorry you came in a bit late. The gentleman on my right is the Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and he is handling only the cultural bit that the ICCR is handling for the IAFS. Very shortly, I am expecting Mr. Syed Akbaruddin who is the Chief Coordinator of the IAFS. He will have all the figures. He just called me, he is stuck in traffic at ITO. I hope the traffic jam does not delay him.
Question (Yusuf Ali): I will put my questions after he comes.
Official Spokesperson: If you want to ask anything on the cultural side, he is the gentleman concerned. You can ask him on ICCR scholarships if you are interested because that is something that Mr. Rajasekhar’s outfit handles.
Question (Yusuf Ali): No, thank you.
Official Spokesperson: Looks like people are very happy on the cultural side.
DG, ICCR: Thank you very much. Actually, I have just joined in the beginning of this month. This is also my first introductory interaction. I may utilize this, as Vikas is suggesting, to tell about what ICCR does, in case some of our friends from Africa are not familiar.
Question (Shilpa, BBC): We just wanted to know what cultural events are on the sidelines with Delhi meetings so that we can go and film them actually. Anything tomorrow or day after tomorrow which is planned which we can film?
DG, ICCR: Nothing before 31st. There was a curtain-raiser and then there is a special show for the Heads of State at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The next show would be on 31st at Nehru Park. These details we can also distribute at the end of this and they are also available on the website of ICCR.
Official Spokesperson: He is handling the cultural troupes who have come from Africa. There will be cultural troupes from India for our African friends. Those details Mr. Akbaruddin would have. I know for a fact that when the External Affairs Minister is hosting a dinner, there will be a cultural performance, and also there may be a cultural performance when the Heads are all here. I think those details, Mr. Akbaruddin would be able to provide you.
Question: Could you give us some details of this cultural event at Rashtrapati Bhavan that you said would be attended by the Heads of State? What are the performances?
DG, ICCR: This is actually the main show in honour of the Heads of State.
Question: On which day will it be organized exactly?
DG, ICCR: This is on 29th when the Rashtrapatiji hosts a banquet. I cannot go into the details, but suffice to say that we would put up the best show blending both the African and Indian. There will be drums, there will be string instruments, there will be music, there will be dance, western and eastern. So, we would like to present a brief but a great splash.
Question: Today Secretary level talks have taken place. Can you just give us a hint as to what has happened and what is the flavour of that?
Official Spokesperson: As you know, formally the India Africa Forum Summit has begun today. It has been divided into three components. The first component is the Senior Officials meeting which has begun today. From our side, the senior-most official handling Africa Forum Summit is Mr. Navtej Sarna, Secretary (West) under whom Africa falls. I have tweeted the group picture where he is very much there and you must have seen it. They are going to negotiate two documents. One is going to be a political document which will basically talk about the political partnership between India and Africa, and it will also touch upon global and regional issues. The other is going to be a framework document of cooperation. That to my mind I think will recall the developmental partnership between India and Africa, the lines of credit, what are African needs, where we can contribute, and how the two – India and Africa – can work together in terms of improving the lives of both our peoples.
Those are the two documents that are now currently being negotiated. Mr. Navtej Sarna was also supposed to be here. But, as always happens, these meetings always overrun and so he could not join us. But let me take this opportunity to brief you also on what is going to happen tomorrow and in terms of the media that wants to be present. Tomorrow is going to be the Foreign Ministers’ meeting. So, as I told you, the three components are – the first component is the Senior Officials meeting which happened today; tomorrow is the Foreign Minister’s meeting; then on the 29th is the meeting of Heads of State and Government. That is the way the summit has been divided.
Tomorrow it will begin at 10 o’clock with the Ministerial meeting and group photograph at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex. At 11 o’clock tomorrow there will be the inauguration of a business exhibition by Minister of State Gen. (Retd.) V.K. Singh. The venue will also be the velodrome in the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex. At then from 12 o’clock onwards, basically our External Affairs Minister will start having bilateral meetings with several of her counterparts. I can mention a few to you. She will be meeting the Foreign Minister of Zimbabwe, of South Sudan, of Malawi, of Kenya, of Cameroon, of Cape Verde, of Democratic Republic of Congo, and of Ghana. These are the meetings that we know till now. Some more meetings may also come up. That is the sequence for tomorrow.
For those of our media friends who want to avail of XP Division’s facilities to reach the venue – as I told you, the venue is the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex – the entry is from Gate No. 8D and XP Division buses will start at 7 a.m. sharp. So, those of you who do not want to get caught in traffic jams or do not want to avail of your own transport, you are welcome to come to Shastri Bhavan tomorrow morning at 7 a.m., get into the buses that XP Division is providing which will ferry you to the venue and bring you back later in the evening.
The 10 o’clock meeting is open to all media which means print and audio-visual. At 11 o’ clock, the inauguration of the business exhibition by MOS is open to agencies only. And then the bilateral meetings are open only to agencies. That is the advisory.
Now we have the man of the moment Shri Syed Akbaruddin, Additional Secretary and Chief Coordinator of the India-Africa Forum Summit. He is coming straight from the venue. So all those questions that you wanted to ask him on the logistics, on how many Heads are coming etc., now is your chance.
Chief Coordinator, India-Africa Forum Summit (Shri Syed Akbaruddin): I am ready. You can ask questions.
Official Spokesperson: I think Yusuf Ali wanted to ask a question. He is one of our friends from the India-Africa Editors’ Forum.
Question (Yusuf Ali): I want to know how many Heads of State or Government have confirmed their attendance. The initial figure was 40. We do not know whether it has gone up or it has come down. Secondly, there was a little tremor this afternoon in some parts of New Delhi. Will that affect the Summit or is there any contingency plan you are taking into consideration?
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: Let me answer the second question first. You are right, those of us who were outside the Summit venue, like here, felt the tremor. But those of us who were inside the Summit venue were happily having their lunch. The Indian food that was being served to them seemed to have made them oblivious to anything around them. So, none of them even felt the tremor. That is perhaps because that stadium building has a much stronger structure than other buildings here in which you may have been outside etc. You can perhaps add it to the quality of Indian food that they were having.
I will now answer the first question you asked. You can play with numbers the way you want to play. I will play with numbers in another manner and that is, you are aware that this is a summit of 56 representatives, i.e., 54 from Africa, the African Union, and our Prime Minister. We are confident that in an unprecedented development, every institution and country invited will be present for the summit when our Prime Minister takes the floor on 29th of October. Therefore, this Summit will be a gathering of every country in Africa, the African Union and India which is unprecedented in the annals of any summit between Africa and any other country.
Question: I would like to know if you can unveil some of the names of the Heads of State and Government that will be attending.
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: Name-calling is not the right way to go about this. Having said that, if you would like to know the names, they are already in the public domain. Where are you from?
Question: France.
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: There are several francophone African countries that are coming, including for example, Gabon, Guinea. As you are aware, Guinea had elections only about 15 days ago on 11th of October. The President of Guinea has kindly consented to come immediately after the elections. Let me give you another example, Guinea Bissau. You are aware that a new Government was formed in Guinea-Bissau just two weeks ago. We also will have a high level representative, the President of Guinea-Bissau here. I can reel off these names but the point that I would like to make is that even those who have been elected recently have been very gracious in accepting our Prime Minister’s invitation, and we are ready to receive them. You are aware that two of the Kings who are in Africa are already in today. That is, the King of Morocco and the King of Swaziland.
So, we will have representation across boundaries in different sectors and I could list all of them. But I think I would prefer to give you a flavour rather than a listing which would be very common for you to pick up. We will put these lists out as we work through this. We have already put out to all the delegations their speaking slots. So, they are all aware of what time their leaders will be speaking. You can be certain that you are going to be a day full of leaders only speaking because the number of speakers at the summit level is so high that in consultation with all the participants we have agreed that only leaders will speak at the Summit and Foreign Ministers will only get a chance to speak tomorrow at the Foreign Ministers’ Conference.
So, those Foreign Ministers who are leading the delegations will be given pride of place tomorrow and they will speak first. Even though they are leading the delegations, they will be present in the plenary on the 29th, given the paucity of time and the large amount of response that we have received – and we are grateful for that gracious response from so many countries in Africa – the Summit will only be limited to those leaders who are attending. By leaders I mean for example the invitation for the Summit was sent by our Prime Minister and therefore in protocol terms, anybody equivalent to our Prime Minister and above will be provided that opportunity and space for making their speeches at the plenary.
Question: Sir, after this Summit gets over, what will be India’s stand on the lines of credit that we provide to Africa? Secondly, on access to affordable medicines – that is one issue which African nations have always thanked India for – what is India’s position regarding generics and protecting the generics regime in India?
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: You are aware that more than 80 per cent of HIV retro-viral drugs are sold in Africa are sourced from India. It is not that we provide them free of cost. These are sourced by various organizations because they find them very useful, they find them extremely effective and they find them very cost-effective too. So, 85 per cent of all HIV retro-viral drugs in Africa are sourced from India. Some of them we provide but others are sourced by various philanthropic organizations and by the countries themselves.
So, UNAIDS which is in the forefront of this activity is extremely keen to organize platforms for visiting African leaders with our industry as well as with the medical hospitals etc., to see if we can work out a longer term arrangement because right now the arrangement is for HIV antiretrovirals. However, they are looking for other opportunities and I am certain that on the sidelines of the summit, there are efforts to have some other modalities where such interactions are possible.
As regards what we do in terms of LOCs after the Summit, I would suggest you to please be a little bit patient. It is only two more days. You have waited for such a long time and I am certain you will be patient for two more days.
Question: …(Inaudible)…
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: We have put that out in the pubic domain. They are available. We have said that already disbursement is more than 3.5 billion out of the 7.4 billion that we have committed. There are approvals for more than 5 billion. So, we are fairly well ahead in terms of where we promise. Wait for the next big thing at the summit.
Question: Sir, we were told that you would give us some interesting details at this conference on the cultural component, what you have planned in terms of the various cultural activities, Bollywood, food etc.
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: Rajasekhar, I understand, has briefed you on the ICCR component. Culture is intrinsic to every Indian activity and that is in our dress, in the way we eat our food. As I told you, already the delegates have had a taste of our food which has made them oblivious to the earthquake. So, that is the impact of Indian culture with food. However, we are not resting at that.
If you are interested, let me go to another angle which you have not heard of before. There are by my account approximately 20 spouses of leaders accompanying the leaders here. We have chalked out a very interesting programme for them. We have brought back our Ambassador to UNESCO Ruchira Kamboj who was our former Chief of Protocol and who is very well versed in how to organize a variety of events which have a cultural component. What she has chalked out for them is a mix of Indian traditional, cultural exposure to monuments as well as a modern fashion show which will highlight the handlooms of Banaras. This is being choreographed by Sunil Sethi.
In addition, we have got two Master Chefs who will be cooking and demonstrating for the spouses how they can perhaps make very delicious Indian foods in a very short time. So, it is taste as well as time that will be a factor while these chefs demonstrate this. That is one element of Indian culture. It is happening at the Leela Hotel, Chanakya Puri. Of course, access is only limited to the spouses and a select group of Indians who will interact with them.
In addition to this, you are aware that there is a very interesting programme that India is promoting. These are called the Solar Grandmothers. These Solar Grand Mamas are being trained right now in Tilonia in Rajasthan. Bunker Roy is bringing some of those who are from Africa, from the places where some of these spouses are, to interact with them and to share their experience because this is a unique programme where women above 35 plus are brought to India, they do not speak the language in which they communicate this programme. When they come, they are people who have never been to urban settings.
We asked Bunker Roy, “Why do you only choose women?” He said that men do not listen; they speak too much, like me. So, he said, ‘Women listen, absorb and then they do not go looking for jobs outside their environment.’ So, this experiment has been extremely successful where so far about 300 plus African women from various parts of Africa have come. They have gone back and used solar energy for lighting up more than 15,000 villages. We have run programme’s short clips on these. These are available on Facebook as well as on Youtube. You can have a look at the activities these Solar Grandmothers do. These ladies are going to interact in a unique setting with the African Heads of State’s spouses. This is another element of culture.
Let me try and put some other elements of culture in place. No Indian programme is complete without culture. So, like on many things we have deviated from the past. We will have a cultural component in the inaugural ceremony which has not happened in the last two India-Africa Forum Summits at the inaugural ceremony. This is a cultural component which exhibits of course, some of the traditions of India and Africa but also the brand new India, the India that is vibrant, youthful, energetic and how that India can partner with a resurgent Africa. It is a very short programme. It is not of more than about 13 and a half to 14 minutes. But it is a programme that I am certain all of you would like. That is another cultural element that we are planning for.
Question: I will bring you back from spouses to an unpleasant subject, excuse me for that. One Indian newspaper today mentioned that USD 15 billion concessional credit will be announced on 29th. Can you confirm this?
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: How long have you been here, Sir?
Question: Well, since my birth.
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: Well, then do not take as gospel truth what you read in papers until you …
Question: I am a journalist.
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: Yes, you are a journalist. It is at your own peril if you take that as gospel truth. If you have asked your question, let me answer it.
Speculation is not the basis for decision making. So, let me tell you that any of the figures that are being mentioned are purely speculative. People have not been able to get at the right figure. So, they are speculating about it. If they had got at the right figure, they would have tom-tommed it everywhere. So, like you, that speculation will continue for the next two days. Please bear with us. If there are announcements, I think it is courteous for us as those who are working towards a goal to wait for those announcements and let our leaders be the first to hear it rather than us trying to spill the beans before that.
Question: As far as the UNSC quest of India is concerned, the External Affairs Minister has already said that India welcomes Africa’s inclusion. Give us a sense of where we stand vis-à-vis India’s desires concerned and what Africa wants.
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: The African common position is well known. It is based on the Ezulwini Consensus. Our approach on Security Council reform is also well known. We do not see any contradiction in working together on this effort. However, for those of us who followed this, and I have been following this since 1995, way before many of you have even been in journalism, I was handling Security Council reform in the United Nations then and I hope to handle it after two more months. But that said, this is an ongoing process. We are working on an approach that will lead both Africa and India to be represented in a permanent manner in the United Nations Security Council. We are both ancient civilizations, we are both patient and we will wait for our day and we are certain that day will come.
Question (Christopher, South Sudan): How much has or will the South Sudan conflict feature in bilateral talks with our Foreign Minister and also in talks with President Salva Kiir? Secondly, most of the East African countries, I believe, will attend but so far efforts by the East African countries, the Great Lakes region, to resolve the conflict in South Sudan do not seem to be effective. I would like to know what role has India played on the sidelines during the talks in Addis Ababa and what role are you going to play more to see that peace comes to South Sudan that can assist in any partnerships within the region because if there is conflict in South Sudan, any partnerships with Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania could be disrupted by conflict in South Sudan?
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: The meetings that you referred to are only going to take place tomorrow and I think with President Salva Kiir a little later because I understand he is only coming late. There is still some time to go I do not know the exact timing as of now. That said, these are important issues which I am certain the Government of South Sudan would raise and our approach to these things is very clear and that is, what Africa wants and that Africa has always stood for African solutions to African problems and we respect that. It is not India’s intention to go beyond what Africa wants and therefore, if we can support that approach of African solutions for African problems, we certainly will do so.
Official Spokesperson: If I may add, as you know, India is active participant in UNMISS. We have contingent there and we support fully the IGAD initiative to resolve differences between President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar.
Question: Sir, will policy consistency be sought for by India because there have been a few regime changes within the continent which has led to major changes for India’s investments over there. One example can be of Mozambique where there was a regime change and the oil field that was supposed to be given, is sort of delayed a bit?
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: Look, if your question is whether India desires consistency in policy, obviously everybody would desire consistency in policy. That said, it is the right of every Government and we respect that right to choose their own policies as we have. You could well say that our policies have for the last one and a half years been in a different mode than previously. That is the sovereign decision of a Government which has been chosen by the people of that country. So, we will respect any decision. That has been the hallmark of our policy towards African States and that is we respect their right to choose a policy that they are comfortable with. We will work with them at a pace at which they are comfortable and in a manner that they are comfortable.
Question (Tuwilika, Ministry of ICT, Namibia): There have been questions about what is Africa going to get. You said you look at what Africa desires or what they need. So, I am going to turn around the question and ask what does India have to offer.
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: I think it is a valid question and you have a right to ask that. What does India have to offer? We have to offer that as a developing country with a population of one billion and there are numerous experiments of development being undertaken in India today. These are not top driven but bottoms up. It is normal that when we have a relationship with our development partners, they may find some of these of value, not because we are better on anything. It is because these experiments are an ongoing process, because there are parts of India which are at very similar requirements as in Africa. There are parts of Africa which have very similar requirements as us. If there are some small experiments which have worked in India, we could offer them to you.
I have explained to you one experiment about Solar Grandmothers. This is a unique experiment which you cannot find anywhere else in the world. This is an experiment of teaching the women who are not formally educated technical skills which has worked for our people. And if we can share it with Africa, sure. Similarly, there are broader concerns which we share with Africa and to make common cause on that in the global arena would be good for us and certainly good for Africa. I could now replicate and give you several examples of how we can learn. For example, mobile banking in some parts of Africa is way ahead of what we are using. If we can learn that from Africa, if we gain from it, it makes for improvement in the lifestyles of our ordinary people and we stand to gain from Africa in those countries where these mobile banking systems are in place. They are way ahead of the arrangements today in India and we certainly can benefit and gain from those in Africa. So, it is not a question of what we can give, what we can take. It is a question of what we can in terms of our different experiences and experiments share with each other. That is it. We respect what you have done. We hope that something that we have done would be of benefit for you.
Question (Medha, NDTV): Africa has a huge market for small little goods like pencils, plastic things and China seems to have tapped into that market. Is India lagging behind or is India seeking to tap into the retail sector of Africa?
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: Madam, I think the underpinning of what I have said so far perhaps indicates to you our approach. Let me try and elaborate that a little further. We stand to engage with human resources in Africa because in our view, human resources are the most important element in any society. Any other resource is peripheral to our engagement. Our engagement with Africa is in terms of human resources, people to people contact, exchange of ideas, capacity building etc., where we can gain and Africa can gain. Others are important but primary to our engagement with Africa is what is above the ground and that is human resources.
Question: Ambassador of Ethiopia has mentioned that there is much more awareness about India in Africa because of India’s outreach there. But in India, there is hardly any awareness about Africa, like when she says she is in Ethiopia, people ask her is that in South Africa. So she says that this issue needs to be addressed. Is the Summit planning something on these lines – people to people contact?
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: I think that is a valid observation. It is part of public diplomacy to try and educate within the country itself of the tremendous opportunities and people to people contacts that can exist and can be fostered. The Summit is an opportunity to do that but it has to be an ongoing process. Also, it has to be a process that the Ministry of External Affairs by itself cannot deal with it. It is a much broader process. It is valid, we have started that process. For example, there are hundreds of very outstanding footballers from Africa playing in India. I would like some of you to name some of them. We all love football, we watch them, but we do not recollect. When we grew up, Chima Okeri was a household name for anybody watching football in India. This was way back in 1970s. So, there are role models of Africans who are here, who we can emulate and be proud that they have come and taught us skills which we were lacking in. However, this is a long term process.
Question: …(Inaudible)…
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: I think what we need to see is, when countries start interacting with each other, they work out what is important for them in the international arena and certainly cooperation on anti-terrorist measures or anti-terrorist cooperation is a primary goal of Indian foreign policy. And we have, not today but over the past few years, also seen that there is a resonance to this in several parts of Africa. Therefore, we do expect that this will come up in the meetings and we will have occasion to make common cause on that.
Question (Haroon Riyaz, Diplomacy in Focus): It is a supplementary to what she asked about African awareness in India which is almost zero. Is it because the Indian media is dependent on the Western media’s coverage of Africa which is biased? As of today, there is not a single Indian journalist who is reporting on a day-to-day basis or regularly from African country. It was only one journalist Aman Sethi for the Hindu. He is no more there in Ethiopia. So, what the Ambassador of Ethiopia mentioned yesterday is probably true and is raised again and again by African Ambassadors and High Commissioners regularly that we do not have first-hand information from Africa appearing in the Indian media. There is no Doordarshan coverage, there is no PTI or UNI coverage. It is missing.
Chief Coordinator, IAFS: You are absolutely right, and I agree with you 100 per cent, and I would certainly agree with the Ambassador of Ethiopia on this point. That said, I would like to know if any of you standing here is controlled by the Indian Government on anything you do. I mean, why look at the Government for this? You never look at the Government for anything else. So, please take the initiative. We will be there to support you; take the initiative. I know my colleague Mr. Vikas Swarup does in a small manner promote that cooperation through agencies. There are some agencies who use African reporters to report to India but they are in very small numbers. But you are all the representatives of the media. So, please look inside yourself for a solution to those problems.
Official Spokesperson: With that, this press conference comes to a close. Thank you all.
(Concluded)
