Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
India and Cote d’Ivoire held talks on expanding cooperation in defence and anti-terrorism, as well as trade, investment, infrastructure, agriculture and healthcare, during External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to the West African country. Jaishankar described Cote d’Ivoire as one of India’s “key partners” in Western Africa.
The discussions covered bilateral ties, capacity building and engagement in multilateral fora, as India seeks to deepen partnerships with African countries and strengthen cooperation with the Global South. Jaishankar is in Cote d’Ivoire on the second leg of his three-nation tour, which began in Ghana and will also take him to Ethiopia.
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Jaishankar arrived in Cote d’Ivoire on Wednesday from Ghana and met Vice Prime Minister Tene Birahima Ouattara in Abidjan. Ouattara is also the country’s defence minister. After the meeting, Jaishankar said on social media, “We spoke about our growing defence partnership, underpinned by mutual trust, capacity building and shared interests.” He added, “Exchanged views on opportunities to further our cooperation in defence & anti-terrorism, including through training, capacity building and enhanced institutional exchanges.” Ouattara said the discussion “focused on strengthening cooperation between Cote d’Ivoire and India” and added, “This meeting reaffirms our shared commitment to consolidating a strategic partnership in service of peace, security, and development.”
Earlier, Jaishankar held talks with Cote d’Ivoire’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Niale Kaba on strengthening bilateral ties, with a focus on trade, infrastructure, agriculture and healthcare. He said he had “comprehensive discussions” with Kaba on advancing the India-Cote d’Ivoire partnership, “including in trade, investment, infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare and people-to-people ties”. He also said, “Underlined that our people-centric cooperation will be driven by the priorities of Cote d’Ivoire.” The two sides also discussed deepening engagement in multilateral fora.
At an interaction with ITEC alumni in Cote d’Ivoire, Jaishankar said India’s development partnership has always been central to its engagement with Africa and that cooperation should respond to the demands and priorities of African partners. He said the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme, which began in 1964, has evolved into one of India’s most important platforms for capacity building and engagement with other countries. According to him, ITEC now extends to more than 116 partner countries, with nearly 10,000 fully funded training opportunities offered every year across a wide range of disciplines.
Jaishankar said that in Cote d’Ivoire, around 800 ITEC slots have been utilised over the last 12 years, while 123 defence slots and 100 civilian slots have been committed. He said the programme covers areas such as ICT and digital governance, public administration, banking, finance, agriculture, energy, skill development, defence, security and countering terrorism. Calling capacity building an important pillar of India’s longstanding and friendly relations with Cote d’Ivoire, he described the country as one of India’s “key partners in Western Africa”. He said India supported Cote d’Ivoire’s continued economic growth, governance transformation, and security and defence goals, and described India as a “reliable partner” in meeting its requirements for skilled human resources, technical expertise and institutional capacity.
He urged ITEC alumni to remain connected with India and said the alumni network should become a “standing platform” for continuous engagement with ITEC. Jaishankar said India would welcome suggestions on how the programmes could be improved and what new areas would be appropriate, and added that India would keep adjusting the programme to reflect Cote d’Ivoire’s national priorities on both the defence and civilian sides. “The success of ITEC should ultimately be measured not just by the number of participants trained, but by the knowledge that is transferred, the institutions that are strengthened, and by the enthusiasm and the difference of participants and their countries,” he said. He also said India’s philosophy behind ITEC was driven by a “very deep commitment to engagement with Africa” and that while development plans should respond to Africa’s own priorities, the development of capacities was key. Thanking the alumni, he said each of them had become a “bridge of friendship between our two countries”.
Jaishankar also interacted with members of the Indian community in Cote d’Ivoire and spoke about the transformations in India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He highlighted efforts in diversifying energy supplies during global uncertainty, securing fertiliser supplies, improving ease of living by solving citizens’ problems, advances in passport services, rapid response to natural disasters and evacuation of nationals in distress. He also spoke about building consensus during India’s BRICS and G20 presidencies, and highlighted India’s role in the African Union getting permanent membership during its G20 presidency.
Before arriving in Cote d’Ivoire, Jaishankar was in Ghana, where he held discussions on expanding the comprehensive partnership into new areas including pharmaceuticals, health, mining, defence, railways and digital sectors. In Addis Ababa, he will chair the Regional Heads of Mission conference, which is expected to be attended by Indian envoys in the region. Ahead of the tour, the Ministry of External Affairs said the visit reflected India’s commitment to deepen its partnership with Africa and would further New Delhi’s solidarity with the Global South. Overall, Jaishankar’s visit to Cote d’Ivoire centred on widening cooperation across strategic and development sectors while reinforcing India’s focus on partnership, capacity building and engagement with Africa.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
