EAM S Jaishankar: India’s development ties with Africa guided by partners’ needs

Emphasising the importance of Indiarsquos development cooperation with Africa External Affairs Minister EAM S Jaishankar said that New Delhirsquos approach has been guided by the needs and priorities of its African partnersAddressing alumni of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation ITEC programme at Cote drsquoIvoire EAM Jaishankar referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modirsquos articulation of the Kampala principles eight years ago saying they had set out the approach guiding Indiarsquos engagement with AfricaldquoWhere Africa is concerned development partnership has always been central to our engagement and we have taken a view that what we do in India should respond to the demands and priorities of our African partners In fact this was the central message some years ago when Prime Minister Modi eight years ago articulated what were called the Kampala principles of our engagement with Africardquo the EAM saidldquoAnd in that priority in that demand ITEC is very important because it is a vehicle to share our developmental experiences our security experiences our governance experiences best practices to also discuss technology and expertise together and equally I must tell this to all of you to also learn from the incoming people from the partner countries because every institution that you have gone to has also benefited from your presence up thererdquo he notedEAM Jaishankar highlighted that this year marks the 62nd year of the ITEC programme which began in 1964 and has evolved into one of Indiarsquos most important platforms for capacity building and engagement with other countriesHe said the programme now extends to more than 160 partner countries and offers nearly 10000 fully funded training opportunities every year across a wide range of disciplinesldquoITEC today encompasses a very wide range of domains from ICT and digital governance public administration banking finance agriculture energy skill development but also to defence to security to countering terrorism So the whole idea really is to develop a comprehensive package so that the entirety of the requirements of our partner countries can be addressed through that programmerdquo the EAM mentionedHighlighting the longstanding and friendly relations between India and Cote drsquoIvoire EAM Jaishankar said that capacity building has been an important pillar of the relationship with around 800 ITEC slots utilised by the African country over the last 12 yearsHe stressed that this represents a substantial investment in human resources and more importantly in building a longterm relationship between the two countriesldquoToday we are proud to record that I think on the defence side there are 123 slots which are committed and on the civilian side 100 I cannot tell you the importance that we attach to these regular exchanges because at the end of the day assets may be created people may visit each other but the human connection the emotions the experiences the memories the connect which we build through these courses these are really the capital for a relationshiprdquo EAM statedldquoCote drsquoIvoire itself for us we regard it as one of the key partners in West Africa and we again are very supportive of your continued economic growth of your governance transformation and of the security and defence goals that you have set for yourselfrdquo he addedThe External Affairs Minister emphasised that India is a reliable partner in meeting Cote drsquoIvoirersquos requirements noting that the capacitybuilding support extended through ITEC would contribute to the African nationrsquos efforts to develop its human capital and acquire the requisite skills for a transforming economy and good governanceThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever