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New Delhi turns its eye on Africa

India has turned its eye on Africa as it ensures that it may not fall too far behind China in Africa, China invested billions of dollars in Africa in return for energy resources, while the US and Britain looked the other way as they are deeply involved in Iraq and Afghanistan. For China, the strategy is a blend of self-interest, soft power diplomacy, and commercial proposition.
IT appears that India's robust foreign policy is now directing its attention to Africa. On April 18, India hosted a two-day summit in New Delhi with more than a dozen African leaders including the president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki.
The summit, being attended by six presidents and senior ministers from the continent, appears to be India's pro-active venture in foreign policy to forge closer trade, economic and political ties with the continent.
It is reported that the invitations were restricted to countries heading the several African regional associations, including African Union.
India's Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh spelt out the kind of partnership India wished to pursue with Africa. It would be a departure from the approach of the West, which, in the pre and post-colonial eras, focussed on draining the continent of its mineral resources.
Dr. Singh reportedly stated: "No one understands better than India
and Africa the imperative need for globed institutions to reflect current realities, and to build a more equitable- global economy and polity."
India reportedly planned to enhance the Foreign Office's Aid to Africa budget to execute human skills improvement projects. Over the next 5-6 years, it proposed to undertake projects against grants in excess of over $ 500 million.
India's prime minister said that India would double the number of long-term scholarships for African students, and effect a 50% increase in technical assistance training slots. He also proposed the setting up of an India-Africa Volunteer Corps to undertake development works in public health, informal education and women's empowerment.
India has turned its eye on Africa as it ensures that it may not fall too far behind China in Africa. China invested billions of dollars in Africa in return for energy resources, while the US and Britain looked the other way as they are deeply involved in Iraq and Afghanistan. For China, the strategy is a blend of self-interest,
soft power diplomacy, and commercial proposition.
India's links with Africa have been historical and cultural. Mahatma Gandhi came from South Africa to India. It was Nehru who, in the Bandung Conference in 1955, highlighted the sad plight of colonial African countries and urged the colonial powers to grant them independence.
Ghana's Nkrumah was Nehru's friend, and Ghana was the first colonial country to achieve independence, in 1960, in Africa. The African countries lent support to the Non- Aligned Movement, of which India had been regarded as the one of the leaders, to distance themselves from both superpowers.
Why Africa is attracted to India
India's rising economic power coupled with influence in other field has not been unnoticed by African countries, because it is likely to shift the geographic distribution of global power in Asia and force a restructuring of Western-dominated international bodiesthe IMF, the World Bank,
right up to the UN.
India's GDP is the second largest among 147 developing countries. It has been the seventh largest exporter of food grains in the world. The surging economy is complemented by a stock market surge that saw index value up by a third in 2005 and by 200% since 2001, and by low external debt and large foreign exchange reserves (more than $100 billion).
The Indian economy has reportedly grown at an average of around 6% annually over the past decade, and 8% over the past three years. It boasts an emerging middle class, and increasing domestic product (currently at $ 1.2 trillion), exports, employment and investment. Indian labourers who used to work in the Middle East have stopped going to the region because there are enough jobs in the country.
India’s economy is divided between agriculture (which accounts for a quarter of the gross national product), manufacturing, (constituting another quarter), and the high-tech service sector, which now’ makes up fully half of the gross national product.
Striving to become a “knowledge superpower,” it hopes to skip the intermediate step of industrial development that preceded other nations' march to the information age.
India has built a reputation as a software market. Call-centres are proliferating in many cities. India's service centre is increasingly competing with service sectors in advanced economies, threatening white-collar jobs. The harnessing of information technology to handle the vast amounts of data generated by biological research has created a new tool, Bioinformatics. India is poised to play a key role in its development.
Bioinformatics is essentially a seamless morphing of biology, chemistry, and engineering. The nurturing of the nation’s biotechnological competence is something the Indian government put on its agenda almost 19 years ago, even before the word “biotechnology" had entered most standard dictionaries.
Besides economic power, India's cultural penetration through films is felt almost all across Africa because of the presence of non-resident Indians there. Indian feature films are very popular in many African nations. Indian cinema grows in worldwide appealin 2001 movie exports topped S100 million.
Where does India's interest lie in Africa?
India is keen on utilising Africa's energy resources, but visualises a
partnership “anchored in the fundamental principles of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit... the objective is to cooperate with Africa in its efforts to achieve economic vibrancy, peace, stability and self-reliance."
Africa is a big market for India. India's trade with Africa has soared from $967 million in 1991 to $20 billion in 2007. But that compares unfavourably with China's trade with Africa ($55 billion).
To extend economic influence in Africa, India wants a close partnership through economic cooperation. India has unilaterally offered preferential market access for exports from African countries, including those from the African Least Developed Countries.
It is reponed that India has extended lines of credit worth $2.15 billion to African countries and trading groups over the past five years. It is expected that it will double this over a couple of years.
The summit unanimously adopted the Delhi Declaration and the India-Africa Framework for Cooperation. The two agreements intend to consolidate the discussions held over the past few days to redefine and re-energise the old partnership and cultural links between India and Africa. African Union head Alpha Konare said that the meeting had “truly understood” the continent's needs and aspirations.
Barrister Harun ur Rashid Former Bangladesh Ambassador to trie UN. Geneva.