India, African Union finalise plan for cooperation

This came at discussions between a 15-member delegation from the African Union, that is currently on a visit to India, and a team led by Mr Vivek Katju, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs here on Wednesday.

The delegation consists of the Members of the Bureau of the Multilateral Affairs Sub-Committee of the Permanent Representatives Committee of the African Union and is led by the Permanent Representative of Cameroon to the African Union, Mr. Jacques Alfered Ndoumbe Eboule.

Other members of the delegation include the Permanent Representatives of Egypt, Sudan, South Africa and Benin.

Mr John K. Shinkaiye, Chief of Staff of the Office of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, leads the 9-member Commission delegation as part of the AU Team.

An official press release said the meeting also discussed the implementation process of the decisions taken at the India Africa Forum Summit.

The meeting was also attended by the Heads of Missions of African countries in Delhi as well as senior officials from various Ministries and Departments of the Government and representatives of institutions which are partners for the implemnetation of the Plan of Action.

Mr Katju said the Plan was a product of the consultative process which has been undertaken between India and the African Union and its member states.

"It is based on the principles enunciated in the Delhi Declaration and the Framework of Cooperation and reflects our joint commitment to work in a full partnership," he said.

The release said the AU delegation conveyed their appreciation for the manner in which India had engaged with them to implement the decisions. The Chief of Staff of the African Union Chairperson said that they appreciate India for believing in this multilateral relationship with Africa and for putting on the table the resources required to implement the commitments it has made. Throughout the process, India has listened carefully to Africa’s views and taken them in full consideration in making its proposals, he said,

"Sometimes, the way cooperation is given is better than the content of the cooperation," Mr Shinkaiye said.

The AU delegation also met Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor who said the Plan was an ambitious programme of cooperation with the entire African continent.

He said India's commitment to Africa was total and sustained by its understanding of Africa as fellow developing countries.

Dr Tharoor said that, now that the Plan of Action had been readied for implementation and the deliverables laid out, a follow-up mechanism for regular monitoring must come into play at the earliest.

The delegation said they would endeavour to select the countries which would host the 19 institutions offered by India at an early date.

In addition to capacity building programmes in a vide variety of areas, the programme also provides for setting up of several institutions in select African countries which will cater for all the countries in the continent. These institutions include five major institutions: (i) India Africa Institute of Foreign Trade, (ii) India Africa Diamond Institute, (iii) India Africa Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, (iv) India Africa Institute of Information Technology, (v) Pan-African Stock Exchange; 10 Vocational Training Centres and five human settlement institutes to support low-cost housing technologies.

An important aspect of the capacity building programmes is the offer of 300 scholarships in the field of agricultural education and research over four years, the release said.

The AU delegation also visited partner institutions like the Telecommunication Consultants India Ltd. (TCIL), the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), Education Consultants India Ltd. (EdCIL), and National University of Education Planning and Administration (NUEPA).

NNN