Jaishankars visit to Uganda, Mozambique went almost unnoticed but it indicated Indias bold gambit in Africa – Firstpost

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankars recent visit to three African nations hardly gathered any media interest in India. It is perhaps only to be expected in a country that devotes reams of newspapers and aeons of airtime to Bilawal Bhuttos impending arrival for an SCO summit or better still, Hina Rabbani Khars Birkin bag.

Thats a bit of a shame. Jaishankars trip to Africa demands close attention. After decades of neglect, absence of any long-term strategy or sense of direction, India is making a strong play to be counted as a big stakeholder in Africa. And it is doing so based on the principles of cooperation, mutual respect and equality, instead of looking at the continent as a big prize to be won in great power competition or as a test ground for neocolonial aggression and exploitative policies.

India does not have the geopolitical clout of the United States. It cannot compete with Russia in selling arms, nor can it outspend China. What it can, however, and is attempting to do right now is adopt smarter strategies that involve capacity building and human resource development. By focusing on core proficiencies and increasing engagement with nations where strategic interests align, India is making a difference. Under the Narendra Modi government, it is also acting swifter and nimbler.

Jaishankars visit to Uganda and Mozambique, with a transit stopover in Ethiopia, is a case in point. In Uganda, the external affairs minister inaugurated National Forensic Science Universitys (NFSU) first offshore campus in Jinja province. This marks the first instance of a government university opening a campus abroad. The MoU for this was signed last year with the Ugandan Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF).

NFSU, which has nine campuses across India, offers courses and promotes research in forensic and behavioural sciences, cyber security, digital forensics and allied fields. These courses enjoy high demand from African students who avail of scholarships and fellowships funded by the GoI. Additionally, talks are reportedly going on for the opening of IITs first campus outside India in Tanzania. Classes may start by the end of this year.

These moves indicate that India is moving fast on implementing projects and is doing so guided by Africas requirements and priorities. The decision also illustrates how India is using education diplomacy to strengthen bilateral ties and building capacity.

Apart from the education sector, where India wants to cement its place as a destination for quality and affordability, defence relations are also an area of focus. Ugandan armed forces receive training from a four-member Indian military training team stationed at the Ugandan Armys Senior Command and Staff College, Kimaka, since 2010. UPDF officers also visit India every year to take courses.

Jaishankar also inaugurated a solar water pump project which, when constructed, would bring clean drinking water to half a million Ugandans spread across 20 districts. It is an area where the interests of both countries coincide.

In Mozambique, the minister took a ride in a Made in India train from capital Maputo to Machava and held discussions on green transport, railways, electric mobility and waterways connectivity.

Mozambique, as former ambassador to African Union Gurjit Singh writes in Firstpost, has been one of the leading recipients of lines of credit (LoC) from India along with Tanzania and Ethiopia. These LoCs catalysed the implementation of projects in a diverse range, including in solar energy, training institutions, and infrastructure; a 132-km long road and bridge project is a significant connectivity project.

The LoC helped the Mozambican government source Diesel Electric Motor Units (DEMUs) and coaches from India. Jaishankar also (virtually) inaugurated the 717 metre-long-bridge over River Buzi that is part of a 132-km-long Tica-Buzi-Nova-Sofala Roadbeing constructed by an Indian private player under concessional credit that will connect Maputo to Beira, a port city, and boost Mozambican economy.

As with Uganda, Indias engagement with Mozambique, a nation boasting of an extensive Indian Ocean coastline, is strategic. Indias ties with the African nation spans security, defence, infrastructure, trade, HADR and energy security domains.

Abhishek Mishra points out in ORF that after Mauritius, Mozambique is Indias second-largest destination for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into Africa and Maputo is a vital partner for New Delhi to shore up its energy security by importing liquified natural gas India has also exported many of its Made in India self-defence indigenous equipment like fast interceptor boats and armoured vehicles to boost Mozambiques defence preparedness and military capabilities.

Counter-terrorism is another area where the two interests of the two countries align. An inter-ministerial team led by Indias deputy national security advisor Vikram Misri visited Mozambique last year to expand defence ties and address maritime security challenges.

Evidently, instead of throwing money around, going on a lending spree and burying the African nations under mountains of debt, more often not through unviable white elephant projects, India is making strategic investments and partnerships guided by the 10 Kampala Principles that prime minister Modi outlined during his address at the Ugandan Parliament in July 2018.

China is Africas biggest trade partner by far, but India is slowly raking up the numbers by working towards strengthening its economic ties with Africa. In 2021, India launched theIndia-Africa trade council to enhance trade and investment. Indian companies are also investing in Africa in sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, and technology.

India is among the top five investors in the continent with cumulative investments at $73.9 billion from 1996-2021. New Delhi has extended lines of credit (LoCs) worth $12.26 billion which makes Africa the second-largest recipient of concessions loans from India. According to MEA figures, under these LoCs 193 projects have been completed and 66 projects are currently under execution, while 88 are in the pre-execution stage in various sectors such as oil and gas, mining, banking, pharma, textiles, the automotive sector and agriculture. Indias bilateral trade with Africa stands at $89.5 billion in 2021-22, up from $56 billion the previous year. The African continental free trade agreement, or AfCFTA, may help in further ramping up bilateral trade.

Formed in 2021 with the objective of creating a single African market for 55 countries of the African Union and eight regional economic communities for the free movement of goods, services, labour, and capital, and increase intra-African trade, AfCFTA is expected to push up intra-regional trade from 16% of Africas total trade to 52% in the next five years, with removal of tariffs on 90% of goods.

But if India hopes to benefit from AfCFTA, so can China, and a quick comparison gives an idea of the kind of influence Beijing wields in the continent. China is Africas biggest trade partner, and two-way trade surged to a record US$282 billion in 2022 an 11 per cent year-on-year increase owing to rising commodity prices. No prizes for guessing that it was in Chinas favour with Beijings exports totalling $164.49 billion and imports $117.51 billion.

India has been trying to get a slice of Africas arms imports pie as a reliable, low-cost provider of arms, equipment and technology compared to western nations underlined by a collaborative approach. On the sidelines of the second edition of Africa-India Joint Exercise (AFINDEX) in Pune in March this year, New Delhi held the inaugural India-Africa Army Chiefs Conclave. It was attended by COAS General Manoj Pande and army chiefs and representatives from 31 African nations.

India pitched 75 indigenous products including artillery guns, armoured vehicles, radars, simulators and ammunitions from 32 industries showcasing Make in India initiative. Union defence minister Rajnath Singh urged African countries to explore Indian defence equipment and said that India is ready to empower our African friends to indigenously meet their defence requirements and committed to sharing our expertise and knowledge in defence manufacturing, research and development.

Indias pitch is ambitious. Though it is making modest gains in this endeavour, here too China is an influential player. While Russia remains the biggest arms exporter to the continent, Chinas ability to supply relatively less-sophisticated weaponry remains an attractive option to local buyers. This is especially the case for lower-income countries where arms budgets are smaller, such as many sub-Saharan African nations During the period between 20162020, China was the second-biggest supplier of arms to sub-Saharan Africa (20%), after Moscow (30%), France (9.5%) and the US (5.4%).

In terms of trade, investment, infrastructure, lending and development initiatives, China remains by far the most entrenched and influential nation in the African continent. It offers no-strings aid and floods African markets with low-cost products. China is building a coastal railway line in Nigeria, Bagamoyo Port in Tanzania, mining infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Chad-Sudan Railway and the Mphanda Nkuwa Dam and Hydroelectric Station, reports Nikkei Asia.

While competing with such a behemoth seems impossible, India has had an opening due to two reasons. First, Chinese businesses in Africa have been accused of racial abuse, illegal mining activities, ill-treatment of miners and extractive policies to exploit the continents abundant natural resources. Chinese firms edge out local competitors and pay scant regard to environmental degradation.

Yale School of Environment cites a major World Bank analysis of nearly 3,000 projects to observe that Chinese foreign investors and companies often predominate in poorer nations with weak environmental regulations and controls, causing those nations to become pollution havens for Chinese enterprises.

China has also received flak for the poor quality of its infrastructure projects and economically unfeasible vanity ventures. Sierra Leone, for instance, cancelled a $400m (304m) Chinese-funded project to build a new airport outside the capital Freetown in 2018 owing to economic unviability.

Washington Post points to a 2016 Afrobarometer survey of 35 African countries that indicated an average of 35 percent of respondents perceived the quality of Chinese products in Africa as problematic for Chinas image. Despite the benefits of providing cheaper options of products to African consumers with meager incomes, consumers dont want to see substandard materials in infrastructure building, or risk purchasing fake pharmaceutical products.

In contrast, India has pledged to work with Africa as per Africas priorities, Africas comfort and Africas aspirations. Indias policy of enabling co-capabilities and co-benefits while promoting local ownership has resulted in high level of trust and a partnership based on mutual benefit and solidarity. India had stood by Africa during the peak of COVID-19 outbreak and supplied vaccines, medical equipment and medicines to over 40 nations, underlining the leitmotif of trust and reliability.

To quote from former Indian ambassador to the UN TS Tirumurtis address in 2019 on Africa Day event at IDSA, Indias partnership with Africa is based on a model of cooperation which is responsive to the needs of African countries. It is demand-driven and free of conditionalities. It is based on our history of friendship, historical ties, and a sense of deep solidarity. As Prime Minister has underlined, African priorities are our priorities.

As the current G20 chair, India has a chance to act an enabler of South-South cooperation, enhancing African voices on the global forum, batting for the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member of the grouping. Indias cultural ties with Africa, powered by a 3 million-strong diaspora, gives India an added advantage. As Indias interests grow in the continent, under the framework of Kampala Principles it must move towards greater institutionalization of the partnership.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Updated Date: April 22, 2023 15:57:17 IST

Go here to see the original:

Jaishankars visit to Uganda, Mozambique went almost unnoticed but it indicated Indias bold gambit in Africa - Firstpost