India to work closely with Africa towards developmental goals

India has renewed its commitment to work closely with Africa to meet the diverse challenges faced by the continent and to enable it to achieve its development targets.     

Addressing the high level meeting on Africa's development here yesterday, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma stressed on the close economic ties that India enjoys with African nations.    

India, he said, has a long-standing, close and multi-layered relationship with Africa based on "our abiding commitment" to work with the continent to fulfill its aspirations.    

The partnership, he stressed, encompasses priority sectors integral to the developmental goals of Africa in the 21st century. 

"A vibrant India and a resurgent Africa are witnessing an intensification of relations and growing convergence of interests in their common quest for sustainable economic growth and development," he added.   

Sharma said India has always been committed to elevate its special engagement with Africa into an enduring partnership by developing an institutional mechanism for India-Africa dialogue.    

In this context, he said, the first-ever India Africa Partnership Forum Summit held in New Delhi in April was convened in partnership with the African Union.      T

he Delhi Declaration and the Africa-India Framework for Cooperation adopted at the Summit, he said, "highlight our shared political vision and world view and provide a solid foundation for a systematic and stepped-up engagement in the years to come."