SPEECHES / STATEMENTS 

PM's opening remarks at the Joint Press Conference following the conclusion of the Second Africa India Forum Summit

May 25, 2011, Addis Ababa

“I begin by conveying our best wishes to the people and governments of Africa on Africa Day. It is an important day signifying their unity for peace and development and it is befitting that the Second Africa-India Forum Summit should coincide with Africa Day.

We have just concluded the Summit between the member countries of the African Union as well as the Regional Economic Communities of Africa and India. As you know, participation at the Summit was based on the “Banjul formula” of the African Union. The Summit builds upon the foundation that was laid at our first Summit in New Delhi in 2008.

I am happy to inform you that our discussions during the last two days were marked by great warmth, cordiality and friendship.

The Summit has adopted the Addis Ababa Declaration and the Africa-India Framework for Enhanced Cooperation. These are extremely broad ranging and comprehensive documents. They envisage not only economic and political cooperation, but also cooperation in science, technology, research and development, social development and capacity building, health, culture and sports, tourism, infrastructure, energy and environment and media and communications.

All in all, we have a large canvass before us, and I am extremely optimistic about the future of our cooperation.

The similarity of our development experiences and circumstances has made India – Africa cooperation a genuine two-way street. This is its true strength and its distinctive feature.

In accordance with Africa's own priorities, we have decided to significantly enhance support for institutional capacity building, technical assistance and training programmes for human resource development in Africa. The flagship Pan African e-Network Project is functional in 43 countries and is still expanding.

We have made a quantum jump in the areas of training and scholarships in our ITEC Programme which has acquired a sound reputation across Africa. Our total commitment for the next three years by way of scholarships and training slots to Africa students will stand at more than 22,000.

In consultation with African Union we will establish over 80 new institutions at the Pan-African, regional and bilateral levels in sectors such as agriculture, rural development, food processing, soil, water testing laboratories, integrated textile cluster, weather forecasting, life and earth science, information technology, vocational training, English language centers, entrepreneurial development institutes.

The consolidation of our financial assistance consisting of grants and lines of credit into a cohesive plan has begun to show results in projects of interest to Africa. Our total commitment over the next three years is expected to be 5.7 billion US dollars to help Africa achieve its development goals.

Our annual trade with Africa is about 46 billion US dollars, and growing. Measures to open the Indian market to African exports, including the Duty-Free Tariff Preference Scheme, are bearing fruit.

During the Summit and the Retreat we also discussed the regional and global economic and political situation. Africa’s efforts to find solutions within its own region will receive India’s full support. Both India and Africa recognise that the world is going through a period of change and therefore close coordination on political and related issues has become necessary and is beneficial to both sides.

I am fully satisfied with the Summit outcomes. We now have to move to the phase of implementation and delivery so that our people can see the results themselves. We will keep the question of implementation under close and constant review.

The African continent today is on the path of resurgence. We deeply value our friendship with African countries as well as the trust and confidence which our African partners have reposed in us.

I will conclude by thanking my colleagues from Africa for their active and meaningful participation in the Summit. I specially thank the Government and people of Ethiopia for their excellent hospitality, and the African Union Commission for their stellar role in making this Summit a grand success.”