India-Africa summit can be a game-changer
Despite India’s long standing ties with Africa, the continent has been a blind spot within the Indian foreign policy narrative in recent decades. Whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has already galvanised the Ministry of External Affairs in this first year in office, will be able to script a substantial improvement in this regard, only time will tell. For now, we can only be assured of the fact that at least the first step towards rejuvenating India-Africa ties has been taken in good spirit and with full commitment. If nothing else, the sheer scale of the Third India-Africa Forum Summit signals a positive development. All 54 African nations will be represented at the conference, and at least 35 heads of state will be in attendance.
The last time India hosted a multilateral summit on this scale was in 1983, when leaders from around the world converged in New Delhi for the seventh Non-Alignment Movement summit and the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. The previous India-Africa summits, held in 2008 (New Delhi) and 2011 (Addis Ababa), saw the participation of only 14 to 15 African states that had been handpicked by the African Union. This is not to say that they were non-starters: The previous summits helped shape the framework for India’s cooperation with African nations in the 21st century, and it is expected that the third edition of the IAFS will leverage the collaborative foundation built over these past years.
Against this backdrop, it is important to underline that, though Africa hasn’t been a foreign policy priority for South Block in recent years, India has slowly but steadily strengthened its relations with almost every African nation, including those in the Francophone West, with whom there was only limited contact in the past. This cooperation has been propelled by two forces: The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme and Indian lines of credit to African nations.
The former is one of India’s oldest, and arguably most successful, foreign assistance schemes. Since its inception in 1964, hundreds of foreign graduates, including Africans, have received training in India. The highly-coveted programme offers a wide range of subjects and is availed by young scholars and old grandmothers, civilians and uniformed personnel alike. The lines of credit programme is a more recent initiative, launched only in 2004. But in the decade since then, it has helped drastically increase India’s footprint in Africa. Operated by a private bank, the loans are given as per the recipient’s requirements for projects that are implemented by Indian contractors. This is a win-win situation with African countries benefitting from Indian investment and expertise, and Indian businesses and companies getting access to newer markets. Viewed together, the ITEC and the lines of credit offer a unique model of successful South-South cooperation.
How can this model be improved and adaptedIJ This is the big picture that the IAFS needs to focus on. While India is re-asserting its place on the international forum, Africa too is no longer just about war and conflict. While these problems remain in some parts, many African nations are stable democracies with flourishing economies. Both Africa and India shouldn’t waste the opportunity.