India, Africa need to jointly tackle terrorism: Akbar

India on Friday called for united action against terrorism and said the country shares this problem in common with the African continent.

"The principal security threat which exists in Africa and our region is terrorism," Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar said at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)-Exim Bank Conclave here on India-Africa Project Partnership.

"We have to find a united answer to a menace which is as dangerous to any country represented in this room as it is to us. We have to understand that we cannot compromise with this evil and if we do so, we compromise at the risk of committing huge amount of self-harm, almost suicidal," he said.

"Shared prosperity is virtually impossible without shared security," Akbar added.

Noting that there is no good or bad terrorism, Akbar said that both India and Africa have to unite in this regard.

"We cannot wait for important multi-lateral institutions like the United Nations to take the lead," he said.

Referring to increasing cooperation with Africa, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a commitment of $10 billion worth of lines of credit (LoC) to the continent between 2015 and 2020. Of this, $1.1 billion worth of projects have been approved this year. These India would like to implement as soon as possible, he added.

"India and Africa can join together for skill development and knowledge sharing," Akbar said.

Addressing the gathering, CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said that 472 projects worth $70 billion were discussed over the duration of the conclave.

"With 450 international delegates from 37 countries including 32 ministerial delegations, the conclave was an extraordinary platform exhibiting India - Africa partnership," he added.

--IANS

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