Sunday, October 25, 2015

India-Africa trade can cross the present level of over $70 billion #IAFS

Third edition of the four day India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS)  summit is begining tomorrow in New Delhi.Seen as a major diplomatic initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, the event has evoked international interest given its scale and the efforts by countries such as China to strengthen ties with Africa in their scramble for resources.With China no longer booming, the contrasting glow on India looks more attractive to Africans who are trying to cope with the sharp slowdown in mineral exports to China and nagging doubts about China's ability to keep investing in Africa.


In future India-Africa trade can take off from the present level of over $70 billion to match or even surpass China-Africa trade of $200 billion if Indian government can give a new thrust to this age-old partnership.
A major issue in this context is that of UN Security Council reforms.In a prelude to the the summit, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday advocated reforms to the United Nations Security Council, while addressing the third India-Africa Editors' Forum meeting in New Delhi.


South African President Jacob Zuma, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari have already confirmed their presence in New Delhi for the India-Africa Forum summit.