IAFS-III has been a 'great leap forward' compared to our limited approach earlier. Why has India taken this major step, which requires huge deployment of human and financial resources?
Touted as the most spectacular diplomatic exercise hosted by India since the 1983 Non Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, this meeting provides opportunity for India to rejuvenate relations with the continent.
Africa needs not only maritime administration frameworks and the local capacity to enforce regulations, but also a model for sustainable blue-economy development that does not result in the destruction of its natural maritime habitat. In this, it can use India’s assistance.
India’s relations with African countries are surging ahead in the political, economic and multilateral spheres. To an extent, this reflects India’s recognition of the economic and political transformation of Africa in the recent years. Last year, there was a spurt in the number of countries going to the polls in Sub-Saharan Africa including Ivory Coast in the west to the Seychelles in the east; the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa and Zambia in southern Africa. At the same time, Africa has performed quite well economically.
Africa and Asia have a long history of politico- economic relations and the scale and pace of trade and investment flows has been growing in recent times. African countries are no silent spectators to the economic rise of China and India; they are party to the growth story. In this context, The Rise of China & India in Africa: Challenges, Opportunities and Critical Interventions offers a timely analysis of China and India’s engagement in Africa.
Africa and Asia have a long history of politico- economic relations and the scale and pace of trade and investment flows has been growing in recent times. African countries are no silent spectators to the economic rise of China and India; they are party to the growth story. In this context, The Rise of China & India in Africa: Challenges, Opportunities and Critical Interventions offers a timely analysis of China and India’s engagement in Africa.
At the Second India-Africa Forum Summit held in Addis Ababa, India’s relations with African countries have got a boost with the various cooperation initiatives unveiled by the Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh.
If India wants to engage with the “Global South” in a more meaningful way, it should recognize its Anglophone bias and consider developing relations with Portuguese-speaking countries and thus open one more front in its foreign policy.
Focusing on specific sectors, beyond the options much in vogue with offensive emulationists or passive singularists, will help India to clarify its priorities, optimize its policy-making process and infuse its Africa policy with greater strategic depth.
Ethnic tensions and political and economic corruption are rampant in Liberia, and dealing with these institutional problems is a monumental challenge for any outsider.
