Courtesy: India Africa Forum Summit 2015
Prime Minister Modi’s tour of four African countries will seek to build upon recent high-level visits to the continent, providing fresh impetus for the reinforcement of India-Africa relations in matters of diplomacy, business, security, and energy while putting to rest criticism of India’s visibility deficit in Africa. However, the onus to harness this momentum now lies with other stakeholders.
Courtesy: The First Mail
India now sees Africa as a promising market for Indian goods, services, and investments. This is evident in the government’s recent concerted focus on the India-Africa relationship—high profile visits by top leaders to African countries, a recasting of India’s development diplomacy, and an attempt to match action to past promises
Courtesy: MEA / Flickr
India has hosted a plethora of India-Africa conferences, expressing commitment to deepen mutual cooperation. It is further expected that the president, vice president, and prime minister may visit Africa this year, to follow up actively. Indeed, a senior official predicts Africa will even become “the diplomatic flavour in 2016”. An analysis.
Courtesy: MEA / Flickr
The third India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi concluded on 29 October 2015. It is time that India begins work towards elevating the partnership with Africa and move ahead from the lofty ideals and grand vision statements. A conscious effort to shift gears and pour in investment in Africa is the need of the hour.
Courtesy: MEA
The U.S. is urging India to alter its IPR regime, and the potential impact on prices in the pharmaceuticals sector is of concern to African countries that depend on India for low-cost generic medicines. The recent India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi sought to address this issue, but it will be a challenge for India to balance competing pressures.
Courtesy: MEA / Flickr
Changes in how India plans to approach its relationship with Africa were evident at the recent India-Africa Forum Summit, including the wider representation of African countries, and Modi’s push to forge a united front with Africa at multilateral institutions on trade and other issues. But beyond these, gaps in the India-Africa alliance remain to be addressed.
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The India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi this week has not generated much excitement among African media, academia, and think tanks. But it will be useful for the African bloc to have a strategic game-plan about the Africa-India relationship of the future, across such areas as trade and public health
Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
This year has seen a disturbing increase in brutal violence by terrorist groups across the world—the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Boko Haram in Nigeria and the Tehreek-e-Taliban in Pakistan. With non-traditional terror targets like Belgium, Canada and Australia also being attacked this year, 2015 could see a more lethal spread of jihadist terror
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A recent UN report praises governments for promoting the right to food. At the same time, India’s Food Security Act will encounter resistance at the WTO meeting in Bali in December. Can India play an exemplary role in the global power struggle over food security?
Courtesy: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center/Flickr
An increase in the global demand for rare earth elements, used in high-technology industries, coupled with limited supplies on Earth, has accelerated extra-terrestrial exploration. International cooperation and competition for these space-based resources will determine the next human footprint and race in space.