Africa undergoing rapid changes, India looks at it as natural partner: EAM Jaishankar

New Delhi [India], June 26 : Africa is undergoing rapid changes today, from being the cradle of human civilisation to becoming the land of the future, and India looks at it as a 'natural partner' with trust and mutual respect, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday.
Noting that India-Africa relations are "deep-rooted," the Foreign Minister emphasised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has redefined India's engagements in Africa.
The EAM was addressing the Africa Day celebrations in the national capital on Tuesday.
"Africa, we all know, is today undergoing very rapid changes. These span the range from being the cradle of human civilisation to becoming the land of the future. It is a continent with the youngest demographies, one with vast natural resources, expanding capabilities, growing markets and most of all, rising ambitions," Jaishankar said.
"India, the most populous country in the world and currently the fifth largest economy, looks at Africa as a natural partner. Anchored in trust and mutual respect, it is focused now on value addition within Africa, with production, research, localisation and local employment," he added.
He highlighted India's efforts to support Africa's development, with a special focus on people-to-people ties.
"Now you all know that India-Africa relations are deep-rooted and go back in history. Prime Minister Modi redefined our engagement in Africa by outlining its 10 guiding principles. These include our commitment to liberate Africa's potential by building local capacity and creating local opportunities; keeping our markets open; sharing India's experience with the digital revolution to support Africa's development; improving delivery of public services; extending education and spreading digital literacy in Africa; improving Africa's agriculture; addressing the challenges of climate change; and working with African nations to keep the oceans open and free for the benefit of all nations, among others," he said.
"People-to-people relations are an important dimension of our relations with Africa, and we have extended e-Visa facilities to 33 African countries. We have also expanded our diplomatic footprint in Africa with the opening of 16 new diplomatic missions, taking the total number of Indian missions in the continent to 45," Jaishankar added.
Stating that India is proud of its long-standing educational ties with Africa, the EAM stated that India has been at the forefront of providing capacity-building and training to African candidates under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme.
"Almost 40,000 Africans have been trained in India under ITEC in the last 10 years. India has also launched the second phase of the tele-education and tele-medicine project. Since 2019, more than 15,000 youth from 22 African countries have been provided scholarships for various degree and diploma courses in disciplines like, computer application, business administration, commerce, social sciences, and humanities. It is also a matter of pride for us that over 23,000 African students live and study in India," Jaishankar said.
He added, "We have also established Indian educational institutions in Africa. The Indian Institute of Technology in Zanzibar (Tanzania), the National Forensic Science University in Uganda, the Entrepreneurship Development Centres in Rwanda, the various Centres of Information technology in several countries testify to India's commitment to advancing the AU's focus for this year, 'Educate an African Fit for the 21st Century'."
The Foreign Minister highlighted that the Indian government has completed 206 projects in 43 African countries and 65 projects are being implemented under Indian concessional loans with a total outlay of over USD 12.37 billion.
He added that 81 more projects are in the preparatory stage, which cover drinking water and irrigation schemes, power plants and transmission lines, cement, sugar and textile plants, technology parks and railway infrastructure.
The EAM further emphasised that India is Africa's fourth largest trading partner and the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) has opened up prospects for a deeper economic integration.
"On the trade and economic front, India is the fourth largest trading partner for Africa with a bilateral trade of about USD 100 billion and cumulative investments of more than USD 75 billion. The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) opens up prospects for a deeper economic integration. India is the first developing country to provide non-reciprocal duty-free market access to LDCs through its duty-free tariff preference (DFTP) scheme. This has benefited African LDCs by extending duty free access to 98.2 per cent of India's total tariff lines. 33 of these beneficiary nations are in Africa," Jaishankar said.
Stating that India has always stood by Africa in times of trouble, the EAM said that during Covid pandemic, around 150 metric tonnes of medical aid were provided to 32 countries in Africa.
"Our 'Vaccine Maitri' is well known and the bulk of the beneficiaries were also in Africa. India has also given medical equipment, ambulances, cancer treatment machines like 'Bhabhatron' to many. Traditional medicine is a domain where in fact we can do very much more, bearing in mind that the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre is actually located in India. As for our HADR response, we have also provided relief material to countries hit by natural disasters whether it is Zambia, Malawi, Kenya or Mozambique," Jaishankar further added.