India’s capacity building diplomacy in Africa

Abstract

The economic and commercial ties between India and Africa are not new phenomena. From time immemorial, trade relationships have been going on where both sides benefited. As we know trade remained as one of the earliest human activities and the Indian sub-continent has had their interaction with various countries of Africa. It is a well known fact that both India and Africa shared many common issues under colonialism which could be characterized by exploitation, discrimination and many other oppressive activities. While addressing the Nigerian India’s capacity building diplomacy in Africa! 2371 A.S.Yaruingam Parliament Assembly in 2007, the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh acknowledged that undoubtedly India and Africa have a shared destiny and common future. The sole objective of India’s partnership with Africa is to cooperate with all the countries of this continent, within the limits of its capacity and shoulder together in their efforts towards achieving economic vibrancy, peace, stability and self reliance. India believes that prosperity of Africa is important even for India. Therefore, the first Indian foreign policy framer gave importance to Africa. It has been realized that Africa can gain in sharing India’s development experiences. The focus of India has been, and shall continue to be, on capacity building and Human Resource Development (HRD) in Africa.