The India-Africa Forum Summit is an indication of the coming of age of India’s relations with African countries. While India’s relations with African countries are time tested and historical, nevertheless in recent years this affiliation has been revitalised. Booming trade is an indication of this change. Trade has grown from US$967 million in 1990-91 to $25 billion in 2006-07 (inclusive of oil imports). This transformed relationship is driven by a number of factors.

The Indian government’s response to the ongoing protests in Tibet has been to merely state its “distress” about the situation and reaffirm its position that Tibet is an “internal” affair of China. New Delhi has assured Beijing that its position on the Tibet issue is “clear and consistent” and that this “would not change in the future.” The Indian position is based on its traditional opposition to separatist movements and to foreign intervention in support of such movements.

India is all set to woo Africa at the forthcoming India-Africa Summit on April 8, 2008 in New Delhi, reflecting the continent’s growing importance to Indian foreign policy in the 21st century. The Summit comes more than a year after China organised a similar event at Beijing in November 2006.

In a statement on February 28, 2008, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) voiced concern about the existing deficiencies in Pakistan’s counter terrorist financing and anti-money laundering system. While acknowledging some progress, the FATF noted that the shortcomings in Pakistan’s national legal framework constituted a money laundering/terrorist financing vulnerability in the international financial system.

The year 2008 started with oil prices touching a historic high of US $100 a barrel. This is partly a reflection of the high demand for energy. Today, many countries are factoring ‘energy’ into their planning, be it hydrocarbons or other forms of energy. But in the case of India it appears that its energy future would be decided more by politics than actual energy needs. In the first week of 2008, an Indian delegation has completed the third round of negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEA) on India-specific nuclear safeguards.

India opened up its defence industry to the private sector in May 2001, in a move to enhance the country’s ‘defence preparedness’. To give further impetus to this policy, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) came out with new policy measure related to the concepts of private Industry Leaders [or Raksha Udyog Ratnas (RURs)] “Make” procedure, and defence offsets, in its 2006 Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP). With these policy initiatives, the government’s focus seems to have shifted towards the private sector as far as achieving its long-cherished goal of ‘self-reliance’ is concerned.