FTA with the African region will be the next logical step, says Anand Sharma
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma today described the India-Africa partnership as the defining partnership of the 21st century. India and Africa share a strategic relationship with each other which is aimed at sharing each others’ experiences and resources for mutual benefit, he added. Sharma made a strong commitment to India’s engagement with Africa and said that Free Trade Agreements (FTA) between India and different regions of Africa are the natural and the next logical step towards deepening the partnership between the two regions.
He also praised the role being played by the Indian private sector in Africa, saying that Indian companies have been following ethical practices while investing in Africa, which will also help in the development of the continent.
He was speaking at the session on ‘The New South: Developing the Africa-India Partnership’ at the India Economic Summit in Delhi.
“India has set up an institutional mechanism to deepen its partnership with Africa, and is taking a number of steps to reduce poverty, provide health and food security in Africa,” said Sharma. The minister referred to the Pan Africa e-network project, which aims to develop Africa's information and communication technologies by eventually connecting all of the 53 African countries to a satellite and fiber-optic network as an example of India’s commitment towards Africa’s development.
Africa is strategically situated to partner India and the two can spur bilateral development, said Raila Amolo Odinga, Prime Minister of Kenya, speaking at the same session. He said co-operation between Africa, India and other emerging economies such as Brazil and China is of strategic importance to the continent and is ushering in a new phase of South-South co-operation.
The prime minister reflected that Indian investments in Africa have been private sector-driven, and encouraged Indian companies to be partners in Africa’s development, especially in sectors such as infrastructure and science and technology. He said the two regions can work on their strong historical ties to deepen their partnership in the future.
On the idea of a single and united Africa, he expressed his commitment towards the vision of the founding fathers of Africa and added that regional groupings in Africa can be the building blocks of a united Africa.
James T Motlatsi, Deputy Chairman, AngloGold Ashanti, South Africa, reiterated Sharma’s reference to ethical engagement by the Indian private sector in the African continent by contrasting it with China. He criticised China for investing in Africa only for its resources and not for the development of the continent. He termed the Chinese strategy as the ‘new form of colonialism’. He said a deeper relationship between India and Africa will help to reduce poverty in the two regions.
Continuing on the theme of Indian engagement versus that of China, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer, Bharti Enterprises, said that during the last decade, India had lost out to China in their access to Africa. He however, expressed hope that the commonality of a large number of young people in both regions can be of mutual benefit and growth drivers.
Picking on the broad theme of bilateral partnerships, Amadou Dioulde Diallo, Chief Executive Officer, Africa and South Asia Pacific, DHL Global Forwarding, Singapore, expressed the need for an FTA between India and Africa and also the need for direct trade routes to make such FTAs effective by ensuring connectivity.
Ajay Chibber, United Nations Assistant Secretary General, said since India and Africa are at relatively similar levels of development compared to more advanced regions of the world, the two regions are well placed to enter into a symbiotic relationship with each other. He said the new wave of South-South co-operation is different from the North-South co-operation which emerged after the Washington consensus. While the North-South co-operation was based on transfer of aid from developed to developing countries, South-South co-operation is more of a genuine partnership between the developing countries.
