Official Spokesperson (Shri Vikas Swarup): Good evening friends and welcome to this press briefing on Day 3 of the India-Africa Forum Summit. Today, as you know, was a day devoted to bilateral meetings because many Heads who had arrived yesterday and some who had arrived this morning had bilateral meetings with Prime Minister. This was also a continuing day of bilaterals for External Affairs Minister. As you know, yesterday she met a large number of Foreign Ministers and today also she met 12 Foreign Ministers. Prime Minister on his part met 19 Heads of State or Government. So, that was a total of 31 bilateral meetings which must be some kind of a record, I would imagine.
To help me conduct this briefing I have with me three of my colleagues. On my immediate right is Mr. Manpreet Vohra, Joint Secretary (DPA-I). On my left is Shri Tanmay Lal, Joint Secretary (Eastern & Southern Africa). And on the extreme right is Shri Sanjiv Kohli, Joint Secretary (West Africa). The way we had divided this was, Sanjiv was responsible for covering the engagements of the External Affairs Minister today, and Tanmay and I and Manpreet were there in the meetings that Prime Minister had with various leaders.
If we want to start chronologically, although there was much overlap also, it was External Affairs Minister really who kicked off the day today by inaugurating the India-Africa Business Forum. And thereafter she commenced her bilaterals here in JNB. So, first I will get Sanjiv to brief you on External Affairs Minister’s bilateral engagements for today. Sanjiv, with that the floor is yours.
Joint Secretary (West Africa) (Shri Sanjiv Kohli): The External Affairs Minister met with her counterparts today from Sierra Leone, Republic of Congo, Niger, Burkina Faso, Namibia, Togo, Liberia, Guinea, Senegal, Sudan, Sao Tome and Principe, and she also met the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.
In her meetings with her counterparts from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, these were three countries which were worst affected by the Ebola crisis. So, we reiterated our sympathy and solidarity with the people and the governments of these three countries. The Foreign Ministers of three countries thanked EAM for the assistance India had given both at the bilateral level and through the UN.
Official Spokesperson: As you know, we gave more than USD 10 million, plus USD 2 million for protective care to fight the Ebola crisis.
Joint Secretary (West Africa): At the bilateral level we gave medical supplies directly to these three countries and then cash assistance to the UN Trust Fund. So, the total was 12.65 which we had committed.
At the general bilateral level with the Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone sought EAM’s approval to open a diplomatic mission. I think they want to open an Embassy at the earliest possible. So, this I think would be the 43rd or 44th African Mission in New Delhi.
They also requested for Indian assistance in training of their teachers. They wanted lines of credit for a variety of projects in the field of energy, infrastructure, agriculture. And Sierra Leone also is the Chair of C-10, the AU group which coordinates on UNSC reforms. So, he generally briefed EAM on C-10’s meeting with the various other groups. He also told EAM that C-10 as a group would be probably meeting in December before the next AU summit in January next year.
With the Republic of Congo, again there were discussions on the lines of credit which we have extended. There is a power transmission project which is being implemented. There is a transport project which is going tobe implemented. And we have also approved a line of credit for setting up of a cement plant in Republic of Congo.
The Foreign Minister of Republic of Congo also briefed EAM on the discussions they are having with two State PSUs in Gujarat for setting up a possible urea plant in Republic of Congo. They have enough gas to provide and they are talking with GSFC and GSCL to see if they could participate both as an equity partner and as a technology partner.
Niger, again apart from various developmental projects the Foreign Minister of Niger briefed EAM on the threats to the region from various militant groups in particular the Boko Haram. Again she wanted Indian assistance in capacity building for their defence forces and we have responded positively. We said we will look at their specific requirements. She also requested for some additional lines of credit.
Burkina Faso right now has an interim government which is preparing for general elections to be conducted later this year. So, the Foreign Minister of the interim government was leading the Burkina Faso delegation, met EAM. And apart from various developmental projects they wanted to set up a roadmap for future meetings of the Joint Commission, Foreign Office consultations which I think would happen once the new elected government takes over in Burkina Faso.
With Namibia again both sides spoke very warmly about the historic relations, India’s assistance to Namibia in its freedom struggle, our assistance to them in capacity building especially various training slots and scholarships. There was a reference to possible supply of uranium but that was in very general terms they said they would set up a national company now and probably a dialogue could be initiated with that national company.
Togo, apart from the general developmental projects we had two issues to raise. One is the question of five Indian nationals who have been in detention in Togo since July 2013. So, we requested them for an early release of these Indian detainees. They were picked up in an incident allegedly involving piracy. If you remember, the case of Captain Sunil James who was released, he was part of the crew, and these six people were picked up from the ground on allegations of helping the crew to carry out the incident. There were six people out of them. One of them had fled from prison. So, he is not traceable. The five are still in Togo’s detention. So, the Foreign Minister of Togo assured EAM that they would look at various possibilities which would involve either an early conclusion of the case or a possible presidential pardon.
Sao Tome and Principe is a small island economy. Our engagement with them right now is not very substantive. They have recently appointed an Honourary Consul in Delhi for which they thanked EAM. They also requested for Indian assistance in capacity building and for projects in the IT sector. They also wanted Indian assistance in the SME sector and also in setting up a centre of excellence for teaching English language.
The Liberian President was here in 2013, if you remember, to receive the Indira Gandhi Award for Peace and Disarmament. So, this is her second visit in the last two years. There were references to our developmental partnership in various areas. There was also special prayers made by the Liberian side for all-women Indian CRPF contingent which continued to stay there at the peak of the Ebola outbreak. And they were telling EAM how this all-women contingent has inspired so many Liberian women to join police and defence forces in Liberia.
With Senegal we have a very substantive relationship both on the political and commercial front. Our trade is now close to a billion dollars. Senegal also has been a major beneficiary of Indian lines of credit. I think our line of credit exposure is close to half a billion dollars. They have requested for some new projects for which we have promised that they would receive our priority consideration. They also want assistance for our national railway network that they are planning to set up.
Coming to Guinea, again the talks were generally on the various developmental areas where we are providing them with assistance, also in the area of capacity building.
With Sudan again it was a very warm meeting. Indian LoCs and Indian investments in the oil sector were discussed. EAM has also invited the Foreign Minister of Sudan to come again for a Joint Commission meeting in the first half of next year.
With the Chairperson of the AU Commission, she was also accompanied by two other Commissioners of the African Union. EAM thanked her for their assistance and cooperation in this 3rd summit that India is holding. EAM told her that we look forward to our increased engagement with the AU Commission.
That was in general about the meetings which EAM held. Thank you.
Question: I have a small question. You said on Namibia the talk was on possible supply of uranium by us for them.
Joint Secretary (West Africa): No, by them. They are the fourth largest supplier.
Official Spokesperson: While we are on the subject of EAM’s engagement, I hope all of you have had a look at the speech that External Affairs Minister gave at the India-Africa Business Forum which, as you know, was organised jointly by Assocham, FICCI and CII. It is a very important speech. So, please do have a look at it. It is uploaded on our website.
We will now turn to the engagement that Prime Minister had today with the African leaders. Starting from I think around 9:20 or so, continuously there were meetings. It started off with the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. The next was the President of the Republic of Ghana. Then it was the King of Swaziland, followed by the President of the Republic of Benin. Then there was the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, followed by the President of the Republic of Kenya, followed by the President of the Republic of Uganda, then there was the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho. Thereafter it was the President of the Republic of Guinea, followed by the President of the Republic of Djibouti. There was a scheduled meeting with the President of the Republic of South Sudan but because his flight got delayed that meeting could not take place today.
After lunch, Prime Minister kicked off his engagements with the President of the Republic of Niger, followed by the President of the Republic of Chad, followed by the President of South Africa. Then we had the Prime Minister of the Republic of Mozambique. As you know, the President of Mozambique was here a few months ago and this time it was the Prime Minister who was representing Mozambique at the IAFS. This was followed by the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe followed by the President of the Republic of Gabon. Then there was Her Excellency Dr. Nnko Sazana Dlaminy Zuma, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission. As you know, she also met External Affairs Minister earlier. This was followed by a meeting with the President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea. And the last meeting of the day was with the Vice President of the Republic of Botswana. So, to brief you on each of these meetings, there were certain common themes of course which reverberated in all the meetings, issues relating to UN Security Council reform, terrorism, climate change, and some WTO issues which figured in a large number of meetings. But then to give you a flavour of each of the individual meetings, I will now turn to my colleague Mr. Tanmay Lal to brief you on Prime Minister’s 19 bilateral meetings.
Joint Secretary (Eastern & Southern Africa) (Shri Tanmay Lal): Good evening everyone. I will run through the meetings one by one. The first meeting, as my colleague just mentioned, was with Zimbabwe who is also the current President of the African Union. During the meeting with President Robert Mugabe the focus was on how the preparations are going on for the summit, what has happened so far. On bilateral issues there was reference to cooperation in the areas such as human resource development, trade expansion, skill development And on broader global themes, as was just informed, the UN reform figured very prominently as also the fight against terrorism.
The President of Zimbabwe also informed that their delegation has had meeting with more than 20 Indian companies on how to take trade and investment forward. Each country delegation is also engaging in talks with the Indian business and private sector besides having meetings with not only our leadership but also various other Ministries as their individual interests lie.
Following this, the next meeting was with the President of Ghana. There again the issues about human resource development figured very prominently. There was reference to how the Ghanian students have benefited. There was a suggestion that these scholarships can be increased. The other areas of cooperation included which were discussed were about agroprocessing, railways, IT, infrastructure development. There was also talk about some emerging areas like cyber security and maritime security where both sides had common interests. The Ghanian President referred specifically to the rise in piracy in the Gulf of Guinea region and how both countries can collaborate further on these emerging areas.
There was also a suggestion by the Ghanian side about their request for having improved conditions for the concessional credit, specifically in the context of some of the conditions that they are faced with because of IMF programmes and also since they have graduated to the lower mid income country, so they made a request whether India could consider seeing how the conditions of the lines of credit could be made more favourable in certain cases.
There was also talk about a fertiliser project over there. And the Ghanian side assured that the project is very viable and that they have recently discovered two huge reserves of natural gas and as and when they are coming on stream in the next couple of years, the associated gas at a cheaper cost will be made available to that particular project and that will be quite feasible for the fertiliser project to go ahead.
The meeting with His Majesty the King of Swaziland, again the Swaziland King explained his vision of how he wishes to take his country forward over the next coming years and how important the role of education and skill development would be for his population. And in that context, this was one of the areas that was discussed, education, skill development. There was a special mention about science park where the Swazi side requested cooperation and the Prime Minister said that we will be happy to share whatever expertise and other cooperation that we can extend.
Agriculture and renewable energy were also two of the areas that were discussed in this meeting. There was special reference to sugarcane processing and how that could be one area of cooperation.
There is, as some of you would be aware, a shortage of power in the whole Southern African region currently partly due to drought conditions in certain areas. So, that was another area where there was discussion on how renewable energy cooperation will be of mutual benefit.
The meeting with the President of Benin. Some of the areas discussed were very similar. Again agriculture mechanisation, electricity for industry, water supply for various purposes, employment generation, transportation sector. And again cutting across these themes were the value of scholarships, education, skill development.
There was also some discussion about proposals for setting up cyber city where the two sides could collaborate and that would provide skills and employment to the youth in that country.
The next meeting was with the President of Nigeria. As many of you may be aware, the President has a longstanding association with India, he had trained in India when he was a military officer. The President of Nigeria said that India has become now the biggest oil importer from Nigeria replacing the United States.
There was discussion on the oil sector in that meeting. There was also discussion about cooperation in the field of defence. Prime Minister raised a very specific issue of 11 crew members of one of our ships who have been in jail in Nigeria for some time now. And she made a personal request that if the judicial process can be expedited and their repatriation can ne considered. And the President of Nigeria assured that he would immediately look into this matter.
The next meeting was with President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya. Both leaders agreed that we have had very very special long-standing ties between Kenya and India especially at the people to people level, and how our trade and investment has been increasing, both sides discussed measures that we can take at Government level to facilitate the economic cooperation to increase further.
A very specific areas that was discussed was about healthcare and specifically the generic drugs. The Kenyan President is very keen on more cooperation in the sector. The two leaders discussed that there is a very important area especially for healthcare sector. There was also discussion on how to increase cooperation in the infrastructure sector. Also, terrorism and security cooperation was widely discussed in this. As you know, both India and Kenya have been victims of terrorism in recent years. So, there was talk on capacity building on various issues, information exchange etc.
There was a special reference that both India and Africa should work together for an early movement on the discussions regarding long pending proposal of the Comprehensive Convention on Terrorism so that we can really move forward to develop a global strategy to meet this menace. The next meeting was with President Musaveni of Uganda. There again both leaders exchanged notes on how longstanding ties we have had both at people-to-people level and otherwise, how the trade and investment has been growing in recent years. The Ugandan President referred to the area of dairy, industrial parks, tourism, education as some of the areas where we can take the cooperation forward. There was also reference to defence cooperation with Uganda.
Official Spokesperson: Also, if I may add, Prime Minister recalled his own visit to Uganda in 2008 when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat and the courtesies that President Musaveni had shown him then and that bond has remained. And in fact Prime Minister also mentioned that he had spoken to the wife of the President of Uganda about possible cooperation on the dairy side and invited her in fact to visit Gujarat.
Joint Secretary (Eastern & Southern Africa): Thank you.
The next meeting was with the Prime Minister of Lesotho. The areas that were discussed were defence. An Indian armed forces team has been training the defence personnel in Lesotho. There was discussion on how to further increase the training slots not only in defence but other areas, the scholarships for specialised sectors. There was a review of some of the ongoing projects like in IT centre which is being constructed with Indian help, another centre for training youth and women. There was also special mention of how the pan-African e-network project has benefited a large number of people there through tele-education and tele-medicine and how this can be further expanded. There was also a review of how the tourism potential can be further expanded. There was specific mention on how India could assist in the agriculture sector especially in the context of ongoing droughts in that region and the dependence on Lesotho on rainfed agriculture.
The next meeting was with President of Guinea. There again the ongoing projects of Indian development partnership especially through concessional credit were discussed. The areas that these projects cover are across various sectors, infrastructure, energy, healthcare, transportation, etc. Again there was talk on how we could consider increasing the scholarships for the youth from Guinea.
Guinea has made a proposal for agricultural mechanisation and they have requested concessional credit which the Indian side said that they would be considering that very favourably. There was also talk about the other sectors such as mining, processing, and minerals. Guinea has large reserves of iron ore and bauxite. So, that was one of the areas that was considered.
Official Spokesperson: The next meeting Prime Minister had was with the President of Djibouti, Mr. Ismail Omargulle. The meeting began really with Prime Minister thanking the President of Djibouti for the tremendous assistance that Djibouti had provided during the evacuation of Indians from Yemen. As you know, our Mission had also shifted to Djibouti. Gen. V.K. Singh was based in Djibouti and was coordinating the relief and rescue efforts from there. So, it was really the sterling role played by the leadership of Djibouti in allowing us those facilities and opening up their port to our ships, allowing our planes to take off. That enabled us to do the smooth evacuation of Indians from Yemen. So, the Prime Minister began the meeting by thanking him for that. He also recalled how his own State of Gujarat had longstanding links with Djibouti considering that traders from Gujarat had been going to Djibouti. In fact the President of Djibouti acknowledged this and said that some traders and moneychangers from Gujarat are still receiving pensions from Djibouti.
He recalled the longstanding links with India and said he was very happy to be here for the IAFS summit. Africa, he said, as a whole feels very closer and very near to India. There was a discussion on UN Security Council reform and how Djibouti has always supported India’s aspiration to be a permanent member. On bilateral relations, basically he said our Finance Minister has already given a note to your people and he said just please have a look at that. I am told that these are in the areas of social housing and SMEs. These are the two areas in which some assistance has been requested by Djibouti. Prime Minister said that in view of our longstanding and friendly relations we will definitely respond positively. And also he said that we are ready to cooperate on issues pertaining to cyber security, defence and maritime security. The President of Djibouti mentioned that Indian ships often visit Djibouti and take part in anti piracy operations.
It was a very warm meeting where as I said the two leaders were on the same page on most international issues.
Joint Secretary (Eastern & Southern Africa): The next meeting was with the President of Niger. Again, besides the issues relating to UN reform, climate change and other global issues, there was discussion especially on security and counterterrorism. Niger explained the difficult neighbourhood that they have and how there is a need for them to cooperate on these areas specifically.
There was also discussion on possible cooperation in power sector, water, food security. There was a proposal that we could set up a Joint Economic Commission that could review the possible areas of cooperation and how to go forward in these sectors. There was also discussions on sugar sector and animal husbandry. The Niger President spoke about how they are a uranium producer and they are ready to collaborate with India for sale of uranium to India. So, that was one of the important sectors mentioned.
There was also discussion on how to invite greater FDI in oil sector from India in Niger and how the numbers of Niger students and scholarships could be increased. The next meeting was with the President of Chad. Here again some of the areas of cooperation are very similar. These include agriculture, irrigation, agriculture mechanisation, food processing sectors, energy and power sector and also how we could collaborate in security and counterterrorism. The Chad President informed that they are looking to open an Embassy here in India in the coming time.
Official Spokesperson: South Africa again a very warm meeting with President Jacob Zuma of South Africa. As you know, they had met at the United Nations on the margins of the GA session also. So, they were meeting again after a very brief intervention. Basically they recalled the long association between India and South Africa, the fact that both of them shared Mahatma Gandhi, and the fact that both India and South Africa are on the same page on the major global issues whether it is UN Security Council reform, whether it is global warming and whether it is WTO. The fact that now there are multiple platforms on which India and South Africa are working together such as IBSA and BRICS is a further factor in our close cooperation. President Zuma stressed a lot importance, in fact devoted considerable time, to discussing the structures of global governance and how they now require change, that basically structures which were set up at the end of second world war cannot continue to be representative in the 21st century and how the UN Security Council is not being effective in controlling some conflicts because of differences between he veto wielding members. He also said that we need more concrete strategies to fight terrorism. I think one of the most important and significant statements he made was that the very fact that this India-Africa Forum Summit was happening with India and the entire African continent showed the distance that countries had travelled since the colonial days. The fact that we are no longer dependent on former colonial powers now, now that they are standing with a country like India for instance, which itself is a developing country, showed the tremendous distance that developing countries had travelled, and the fact that there was now this emerging solidarity amongst developing countries to help each other, I think that was an important point that he made. Prime Minister of course totally agreed with all the points that he had made and said that we have to get together and take a firm stand. So, I think this was broadly the discussions that took place with South Africa.
Joint Secretary (Eastern & Southern Africa): The next meeting was with the Prime Minister of Mozambique. As you might remember, we recently had a state visit by President of Mozambique to India. The Prime Minister who is visiting this time has been an Ambassador to India some time back. He had also had the occasion of meeting Prime Minister on a number of occasions when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. The Prime Minister of Mozambique said when his President had returned to Mozambique, he had been extremely excited about his visit and had spoken a lot about his visit to India and how there were opportunities of cooperation. The specific areas that were discussed included infrastructure, energy, defence and security and agriculture, and water. There was reference to the current interlink power shortage and water shortage in that region and how we can perhaps look at renewable energy and other projects to resolve this situation.
Prime Minister recalled the very constructive visit of President of Mozambique a few months back and that the President had attended a course at IIM Ahmedabad for three months and at that time Prime Minister of Mozambique was the Ambassador in India at that time. He said that we are entering into a golden era for India-Mozambique relationship and that we can move ahead in all areas of cooperation. Human resource development, training, concessional credit, all these areas were discussed.
Prime Minister also mentioned that especially during the upcoming COP21 in Paris, in the context of the power requirement, India would be proposing aspecial gathering on discussing solar energy and issues relating to technology transfer in that sector.
The next meeting was with the Prime Minister of Sao Tome and Principe. The Prime Minister of Sao Tome explained about his vision for his country as to how they plan to make use of the synergies of larger countries like Nigeria and other countries in that region and how they could develop as a logistic centre in a way that Mauritius has placed itself to be. There they are currently in the process of planning a deep sea port. There was discussion on that in some detail and how this could be used as trans shipment especially for Western Africa.
Prime Minister complimented him for his clear and focused vision for his country. There was also some discussion about tourism and fisheries sectors in Sao Tome. Prime Minister offered all assistance in the context of capacity building which would help Sao Tome to achieve its objectives.
The next meeting was with the President of Gabon. Some of the broader areas discussed included terrorism, climate change, transnational crime and how India and Africa should work together on the issue. There was discussion on Gabon is trying to diversify its economy to move away from its dependence on oil and mining sectors and how the non-oil sector has been increasing in their GDP. The related issues of how to assist in manufacturing, in processing and in value addition in various sectors including agriculture were discussed.
There was discussion on how Indian investment could be attracted for various sectors in Gabon. Other areas mentioned were, education, training, telecommunications where they could be cooperation. And also there was detailed discussion on UN reforms and how it is unfair to have one third of the population excluded from these structures of peace and security.
Prime Minister mentioned that Gabon was the first country to implement the Pan-African E-Network and how it has helped in tele-education and telemedicine. There was an agreement on exchange of delegations to see how best to take forward cooperation in sectors like economic development, infrastructure and human resource development.
The next meeting was with the Chairperson of African Union Commission, Dr. Zuma. Prime Minister complimented the leadership of Dr. Zuma on the finalisation of the Agenda 2063 by the African Union earlier this year. There was a discussion on how the 3rdIndia-Africa Forum Summit is prepared and how various discussions have gone so far.
There was a discussion on how India and Africa have been very very close for a very long time and how the partnership is moving forward and diversifying in several sectors, several different areas, how we share democratic values and how the partnership is increasingly on identified, need-based specialised sectors. I think both leaders mentioned both India and Africa share Mahatma Gandhi and it his legacy. There was hope that the outcomes of the 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit will provide more momentum to the strategic partnership.
The next meeting was with the President of Equatorial Guinea. They will be opening an Embassy in India shortly and Prime Minister greatly welcomed that there were discussions on global issues about UN and how the current UN structures are undemocratic. There was a discussion on terrorism. Other areas at a bilateral level where cooperation was discussed was, the oil sector, agriculture, human resource development, capacity building, and infrastructure development. There was also discussion that there could be an exchange of delegation to identify specific measures to make progress in these areas.
The last meeting was with the Vice President of Botswana. Botswana Vice President explained that their delegation had already been in India for a few days preparing for the summit and for their bilateral exchanges. They had visited Mumbai where they had discussions with the private sector, especially in the diamond sector. The UN reforms were discussed as to how it is the legitimate right of both India and Africa to be represented in the UN Security Council.
The Prime Minister assured that we would move ahead on various trade and investment promotion activities including in the diamond sector. He complimented the Botswana delegation for the economic progress that they have made in recent years and the huge potential that exists between India and Botswana to take this economic partnership forward.
Official Spokesperson: And also on possible cooperation in Commonwealth. Botswana and India both are members of the Commonwealth.
Friends, that was as I said, a very broad overview of all the meetings that Prime Minister had. As Tanmay has pointed out, there were certain common themes. United Nations Security Council reform featured in virtually all the meetings and India and Africa are exactly on the same page. Both feel that the current structure of the United Nations is outdated and it needs to accommodate Africa and India, an entire continent has been excluded, a country which represents one sixth of humanity has been excluded. And then the other common elements were of course how India and Africa could help each other, particularly how Africa could benefit from capacity building using Indian expertise. In fact, Prime Minister used an interesting phrase with the AU Chairperson. He said, India and Africa are made for each other, in the sense that we have strengths which we can use for each other. The demographic profile of both Africa and India is very similar. Sixty-five per cent of the population is below the age of 35. We have certain strengths, Africa has certain strengths and how the two, if they combine, it is a win-win situation where both are made for each other.
I will stop here. Now I think we can open up for questions.
Question: You mentioned maritime cooperation or maritime security in Prime Minister’s discussions with the President of Djibouti. The President of Djibouti had earlier this year confirmed that China is looking to set up a naval base there which will be China’s first naval base in the Indian Ocean region. Did the Prime Minister take up this issue or maybe sort of alluded to it in his discussions with the President?
Official Spokesperson: This issue did not come up at all.
Question: In many of the meetings it appears education was a factor which came up especially their quest for an enhancement in the number of scholarships that we offer to these countries. What was the Prime Minister’s response to taht? And are we looking at enhancing these scholarships?
Official Spokesperson: Prime Minister’s response was very very positive. He said human resource development is one area where India and Africa have really worked very closely together and many African leaders have been trained in India, many African students continue to study in India and in fact they go back with valuable skills and experience. And this is an area where Prime Minister is personally very passionate about that we must do all that we can to enhance African human resource development. And I expect this will figure in the outcome document as well.
Question: Jaise aapne bataaya, aaj 19 bilateral meetings hue jo apne aap mein ek record hai. Is se pehle kisi ek occasion par bilateral meetings kitne hue hain, chahe India mein aur UN ke sidelines mein?
Official Spokesperson: Hum log kayi antarrashtriya sammelanon mein jaate rehte hain, Pradhan Mantri kayi antarrashtriya sammelanon mein shirkat karte hain. Un mein bhi, jaise abhi United Nations mein jo hum log gaye thei, toh mere khyal se saat, aath, nau ho jayein vahi badi baat hai. Unnees hona aur vo bhi structured – kayi baar kya hota hai in antarrashtriya shikhar sammelanon mein, pullaside meetings ho jaati hain, do leaders ek kone mein hain, achha aa jayiye zara baat kar lete hain – yeh structured meetings thien aur mere khyal se 19 nischay hi ek naya kirtimaan, ek naya record hai.
Question: Sir, you mentioned even on earlier briefings and in this briefing as well that Niger had raised the issue of terrorism and the fight against Boko Haram. But surprisingly there has been no specific reference to Boko Haram in the discussions between Nigeria and India. So, it appears. Why is their response a bit muted on this issue?
Official Spokesperson: With the President of Nigeria, really the discussion was more on defence cooperation, the fact that India set up their defence academy in 1963 and a large number of Nigerians have come out of that. And Prime Minister said that we are in fact ready to assist in your defence related needs. So, perhaps this could be one way to boost Nigeria’s counterterrorism capacity as a whole that in a way directly impacts on the fight against Boko Haram and other terrorist entities.
Question: …(Inaudible)…
Official Spokesperson: Not in the meeting with Nigeria.
Question: Has President of South Sudan finally arrived? Would he be meeting the Prime Minister?
Official Spokesperson: Arriving around 9:30 or so. Certainly he would be having a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister tomorrow.
Question: The oil sector seems to have come up in a number of discussions including Nigeria.
Official Spokesperson: In fact our Minister of Oil and Natural Gas Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan was also present for four or five of those meetings.
Question: Can you throw some light on what exactly was discussed in the various meetings. Are there any specific projects that they are looking at? Like you mentioned in the case of Niger that they talked about FDI being allowed. Are they looking at coming up with any special …
Official Spokesperson: There are oil investments already by OIL or ONGC Videsh in several countries and then we are looking at projects coming up. The idea is to participate in upstream projects. With Nigeria for instance, currently we are doing spot buying. So, if that long-term arrangement could be worked out, those were the kinds of discussions that really happened. You cannot have very extensive discussions only on one particular sector in a short meeting. When Prime Minister did 19 meetings, it was really 15 minutes each. So, you cannot really have, but the idea is, their delegation has people, our Ministers are available, so the two delegations can also meet. As I had mentioned earlier in the External Affairs Minister’s meeting that one of the delegations already had meetings on the oil side.
Question: As I said, this was not a transactional kind of a discussion that you give us this and we give you that. The discussions were really anchored in the broader India-Africa partnership, specific needs of each individual country, how India can provide help with capacity building, with lines of credit and things like that.
Question: Are there any meetings lined up for the visiting dignitaries with the Leader of Opposition, particularly the South Africa and Zimbabwe with the UPA Chairperson?
Official Spokesperson: I am not aware of that.
Question: Is it true that Zimbabwe is one of the top receivers of line of credit and if yes, why support a regime where their President is seen as an oppressor by majority of the world?
Official Spokesperson: I will not answer the second part of your question. As I said, all the 54 countries have been invited by us. All of them are our honoured guests. In view of our longstanding, historical relationship, and our modern partnership which, as I said, covers diverse sectors. But on the specific questions on the lines of credit, I will ask Mr. Manpreet Vohra to respond.
Joint Secretary (DPA-I): Zimbabwe has received lines of credit from us but they have really been offered more modest scale though. So,I am not sure of the source of your information. It is certainly not one of the largest. The larger ones in Africa in fact are Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania. These are the large ones in Africa. We are talking to the Zimbabweans about additional possible lines of credit. In fact, an agreement was signed just yesterday between Zimbabwe and Exim Bank for a new line of credit for the Bulawayo thermal power plant. So, yes, we are engaged in lines of credit assistance to Zimbabwe but they are of a modest scale thus far.
Question: On the question of United Nations Security Council and terrorism, do you get a sense that they will be supportive of our resolution in the United Nations?
Official Spokesperson: Discussions in the United Nations on UN Security Council reform are being conducted under the ambit of the Intergovernmental Negotiations. As you know, in a very pathbreaking development, last month we finally got text. On the 14th of September, General Assembly resolution was passed recommending a particular text which can form the basis for the future negotiations. So, currently the idea is for Africa and for India to work together in the IGN process to ensure that the text is cleaned up, eventually gets into the form of a resolution or whatever and takes the process of UN Security Council reform much closer to fruition particularly in this the 70th anniversary year of the United Nations.
On terrorism, CCIT, Prime Minister, as I mentioned to you, in his discussions with African leaders alluded to the fact that the fight against international terrorism can only succeed if there is global concerted action and we basically take away any legal lacuna. So, the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism is really to prevent any loophole from remaining because currently you have a large number, I think 13 sectoral conventions dealing with individual aspects of terrorism such as hijacking, piracy, etc. But you do not have something, an overarching umbrella convention which can plug each and every act of terrorism. So, that is what Prime Minister stressed. And he said that if we continue to get sidetracked by the issue of definition of terrorism, then we all know what is a terrorist act and if we continue to just keep discussing definitional issues, then we will not really be able to conduct the fight against terrorism in the manner that we should.
Question: It has been mentioned that defence cooperation came up with several countries. Does it go beyond training? Anything more than that?
Official Spokesperson: My sense is that this is largely restricted to training at the moment. We have Indian army training teams in a couple of countries and we have assisted, we provide a large number defence training slots in our premier military academies etc. So, I think as of now it is there. But to the extent that specific demands come to us and specific requests come to us, we will always be happy to look at those.
Question: On the issue of Indian in Togo or in Nigeria, what has been the response from those sides and also for the Prime Minister to be taking up these issues at the highest level, is India sure that they are innocent, that there is no legal case against them. Because there have been similar cases against Estonians, Iranians who have been languishing in Indian jails for the last many years and India tells them that the law must take its own course and there is a judicial process.
Official Spokesperson: I will get Sanjiv, who has actually handled this issue, to respond to this.
Joint Secretary (West Africa): …(Inaudible)… within the context of expediting the judicial process. It was not that we were trying to sidetrack the judicial process and say they are innocent. I think the request was mainly in the form of if the judicial process could be expedited and the case could be brought to a conclusion.
Official Spokesperson: Exactly what happened in Iran, if you remember. Basically these people had done their sentence and then there was a fine. And because they could pay that heavy fine, that is why they were continuing in jail. So, the External Affairs Minister in the case of Iran had made a request if the fine could be condoned and they could be released and that is what happened. So, I think that is what Sanjiv is also saying. We would never interfere in a country’s judicial process in the sense if somebody has committed a crime, then they would have to serve out their sentence. But to the extent that the process sometimes, the case does not come to trial. So, the idea is to expedite the process at least so that judgment can be delivered at the earliest.
Question: This is on something else. Can you give us an update on Indonesia? There are reports that it was a surrender as opposed to arrest. Can you tell us about it?
Official Spokesperson: I would request you to approach the building very close to here. It is called North Block. Ministry of Home Affairs is there.
Question: One country that is Libya I understand has not sent any representative and perhaps will be represented by the Embassy itself. Is the Prime Minister or the External Affairs Minister expected to meet the Ambassador of Libya?
Official Spokesperson: No, the Prime Minister is meeting his counterparts meanng people at the level of Prime Minister, Vice President, President; and External Affairs Minister is meeting her counterparts meaning Foreign Ministers of those countries.
Question: Are you aware that the entire Congress leadership has regretted from attending the banquet?
Official Spokesperson: I am not aware of this. I will have to ask Mr. Akbaruddin.
Question: Taking back to the discussion with South African leadership, you have mentioned the emerging solidarity. The PM has said that we have to come together and take a firm stand. Is it contextual or is it general?
Official Spokesperson: What he meant was, in the context of these issues that you take a firm stand when it comes to UN Security Council reform, when it comes to climate change, when it comes to terrorism, when it comes to WTO and the interests of developing countries. I think that is what he was implying.
Question: Mr. Swarup, you said that the Prime Minister is very keen on enhancing the human resource capacity of Africans and one of the visiting leaders has also studied in Delhi University. Could you tell us how many African students are studying in India? Do you have any figures?
Joint Secretary (West Africa): …(Inaudible)… come through the scholarship channels, majority of them are self financing. It is very difficult to give a figure. We will have figures of those who come on a scholarships. But that probably would be not …
Official Spokesperson: Twenty-five thousand scholarships in the last few years alone.
Joint Secretary (West Africa): A growing number of people are coming on self-financing basis.
Official Spokesperson: The number would be definitely well in the thousands. There is no doubt about that.
Question: Regarding supply of uranium to India by Namibia, has Namibia offered this for the first time to India?
Official Spokesperson: We will have to get back to you on that.
Question: I am on something else.Musharraf ne kaha hai ki Osama bin Laden hamaara hero hai, aur Kashmir mein unhon ne aatankvaadi train kar ke bhejein hai.
Official Spokesperson: Yeh India-Africa Forum Summit ho rahi hai Bharat aur Africa ke beech mein, is mein aap Pakistan kahan se le aaye hain?
Question: I wanted to ask you one about Nepal today because Nepal and China signed an MoU on fuel imports.
Official Spokesperson: In my weekly briefing, Devi Rupa.
Question: I can understand but if you can give us an update on what is the situation at the border about the fuel tanker, how many are going and …
Official Spokesperson: As I said, I have not prepared for that, I have not come with those facts and figures. If this was my weekly briefing, you could have asked anything under the sun I would have answered that question. But right now we are focusing on the India-Africa Forum Summit.
Question: …(Inaudible)…
Official Spokesperson: Today 19 he has already met. The 20this probably in mid air, about to land, and there are lots of meetings scheduled tomorrow. If you just add up those, I am sure you will get your answer.
Question: At least three countries have said that they want to open an Embassy here. In the context that we are expanding our canvas of cooperation with Africa, do we have enough Missions here or have they asked India to set up some more Missions?
Official Spokesperson: Obviously every country which is currently under concurrent accreditation mode would want a resident Indian Mission there because in your cooperation initiatives there is a human face and you can straightaway meet the Ambassador and convey your request rather than requesting the Ambassador to fly in from some other country. So, to the extent that Equatorial Guinea is opening here, they would want India also to open a Mission there. And this is certainly something which is on the agenda of the Indian Foreign Service. As the service is expanding, as you know we are taking more people now, and by and by as India’s diplomatic engagements increase, you will see an increase in the number of Indian Embassies including in Africa.
Question: …(Inaudible)…
Official Spokesperson: Twenty-nine Africa. But we cover the entire African continent through concurrent accreditation where we do not physically have an Embassy.
Finally, I think we have exhausted all the questions. So, thank you very much and see you all, or maybe not see you all, tomorrow. I do not know. Tomorrow it may be difficult to do a briefing because I think once Prime Minister does his speech,
In fact I think I have to tell you the press advisory for tomorrow. I believe by 6:30 a.m. you all have to reach Shastri Bhavan. We have hired ten buses to ferry all of you. I think tomorrow it will be very very difficult. Only specific cars with specific labels and all will be allowed. And police is going to lock down by 8 o’clock. That is what my Director tells me. So, those of you who want to be in the Media Centre tomorrow better take our facilities. Otherwise, fend for yourself and do not blame us.
(Concluded)
