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Thursday, Apr 10, 2008
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India, Africa to work together on U.N. seat

Sandeep Dikshit

We are not in race with China or any other country in engaging Africa: Manmohan

NEW DELHI: India and Africa have decided to work together in supporting each other for permanent representation in the United Nations Security Council. They also resolved to evolve a common stand on the issue of rising oil and food prices, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declaring on Wednesday that India will chart out its own path while engaging Africa.

“We are not in any race or competition with China or any other country. …. It is up to Africa to determine the path they wish to pursue and to the extent of what lies within our capacity, we will offer whatever help is required,” he told newspersons at the end of India-Africa Forum Summit.

Allays apprehensions

Dr. Singh allayed apprehensions of India being a late starter in engaging Africa, pointing out that this issue had been in focus ever since the United Progressive Alliance government assumed office in 2004. The process was accelerated over the past two and half years, culminating in the summit.

He pointed out that the desire to work together was not a new phenomenon. “We have a common colonial experience and in the post-colonial era we have worked together in bilateral, regional and multilateral fora.”

On the likely impact of the import duty concessions announced by India on Tuesday, he felt Africa should build supply capacities for the initiative to be successful in the long term.

Dr. Singh hoped that the private sector would work in public-private partnership or by any other means to ensure that the initiative did not remain an “empty gesture,” but be instrumental in building capacities in agriculture and related fields.

The Prime Minister also touched upon the less attention paid by the media to the summit by observing that “what appears in the media is a reflection of what engages the attention of the public at that particular moment.” However, as far as the “thinking population” was concerned, there was enormous recognition among all sections that India and Africa must become partners in bringing about social and economic development.

“This conference has been born out of the feeling that we need to do a lot more to bring India and Africa together. I am quite sure the Indian media will draw the appropriate conclusions. This is an idea whose time has come.”

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