Recently, the third India-Africa Summit was held in Delhi, India from October 26-29th, 2015. A total of 54 African nations were invited in the Summit and were represented by Presidents, Foreign Ministers and Kings.
The objective of this Summit for India was to expand its business relations in Africa and also get support for its candidature to be a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
India’s presence in Africa is nowhere close to the presence of China in the continent, but after this Summit things can start to turn in India’s favour. The conference was fruitful for India in a way because some countries responded positively. Egypt released two Indian prisoners that the country had held for 16 and 22 years respectively.
Angola’s Vice President said that India should do business with them, this could be a golden opportunity for India as the country is rich in diamonds to which Prime Minister Modi said it being a win-win for both nations. Somalia was also satisfied with the Summit as Prime Minister Modi of India said that India could send forces to counter terrorism on Somalian seas.
China’s revenue in Africa is more than twice of India’s. China’s trade earned them $222 billion from Africa last year while India at number two just earned $70 billion. But, according to me, India should not worry because they ought to catch up to China in the near future and Summits like these only make the process faster.
References:
http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/engaging-africa-indias-541-initiative/
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