Defence Secretary holds bilateral meetings with delegations from African nations on the sidelines of DefExpo 2022
Why in News?
The 2nd India-Africa Defence Dialogue (IADD) was held on the sidelines of DefExpo 2022 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
What is India-Africa Defence Dialogue?
- Theme:
- Adopting Strategy for Synergizing and Strengthening Defence and Security Cooperation.
- Outcome Document:
- The Gandhinagar Declaration was adopted as an outcome document of IADD 2022.
- It proposes to enhance cooperation in the field of training in all areas of mutual interest by:
- increasing training slots and deputation of training teams,
- empowerment and capability building of the defence forces of Africa,
- participation in exercises, and
- providing humanitarian assistance during natural disasters.
- A volume on India–Africa Defence cooperation was also released.
- India–Africa Security Fellowship Programme:
- IADD also encouraged further research of security issues through the offer of fellowships to experts from African countries.
- This will be done under the India–Africa Security Fellowship Programme.
How have India’s Relations with Africa been?
- Loan and Assistance:
- India has extended concessional loans of over USD 12.3 billion to Africa.
- In addition, India has granted USD 700 million of grant assistance.
- Projects:
- India has completed 197 projects so far, 65 more are currently under execution, and 81 are at the pre-execution stage.
- In the Gambia, India has constructed the National Assembly building and undertaken projects in water supply, agriculture and food processing.
- In Zambia, India is involved in an important hydro-power project, in the erection of pre-fabricated health posts and in the supply of vehicles.
- In Mauritius, recent notable projects include the metro express, the new Supreme Court and social housing.
- In Namibia, a new Centre of Excellence in IT has just become operational.
- Whereas in South Sudan, India is focusing on training and education.
- Energy:
- The International Solar Alliance is a notable platform that has promoted the rapid development of clean energy technologies.
- This has been followed by the ‘One Sun One World One Grid’ initiative to further promote solar and renewable energy.
- In recent years, clean and green energy has been increasingly prominent in India’s development programmes in Africa as also in third-country collaborations.
- Trade and Economics:
- India’s bilateral trade with Africa has now reached USD 89.5 billion in 2021-22 compared with USD 56 bn the previous year.
- With cumulative investments at USD 73.9 billion from 1996-2021, India is among the top five investors in Africa.
- Through the Duty-Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) Scheme that extends duty-free access to 98.2% of India’s total tariff lines, India has opened its market to African countries.
- So far 33 Least Developed Countries (LDC) African nations have been entitled to get benefits under this scheme.
UPSC Civil Services Examination Previous Year Question (PYQ)
Prelims
- Consider the following statements: (2016)
The India-Africa Summit
- held in 2015 was the third such Summit
- was actually initiated by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1951
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans: (a)
Mains
- How does India see its place in the economic space of rising natural resource-rich Africa? (2014)
- Increasing interest of India in Africa has its pro and cons. Critically Examine. (2015)