India, Zimbabwe ink 6 agreements as Naidu meets Prez Mnangagwa, VP Mohadi

India and Zimbabwe on Saturday signed six signed agreements, including on mining, Information and communications technology (ICT), visa waiver and traditional medicine as Vice President Venkaiah Naidu met Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy Kembo Mohadi and held wide-ranging talks here.

Naidu arrived here Friday night on the second leg of his six-day three-nation tour to Africa, which aims at deepening India's strategic cooperation with Botswana, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

During a delegation-level talks held between Naidu and his Zimbabwean counterpart, the two sides discussed on a wide range of areas, including defence, security, mining, capacity building, health and agriculture, the Vice President's office tweeted.

"5 MoUs & one Action Plan on ICT were signed in areas ranging from Mining, Visa Waiver, Broadcasting & Culture etc," it further tweeted.

Earlier in the day, Naidu also met Zimbabwe President Mnangagwa and recalled India's support to the African nation "even during period of isolation".

The two leaders also discussed bilateral cooperation on all fronts.

Mnangagwa expressed his happiness at Naidu visit soon after the general elections in Zimbabwe.

Naidu also met Zimbabwe's Acting Foreign Minister S B Moyo.

"A hectic day of bilateral meetings begins! VP @MVenkaiahNaidu received Acting Foreign Minister of #Zimbabwe, S.B Moyo. Both reiterated the strong political engagement and reaffirmed their desire to further strengthen the mutually beneficial relationship," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Ravish Kumar tweeted.

Naidu is the the first high-ranking Indian Government official to visit Zimbabwe in 21 years.

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda had visited the African country in 1996.

According to Indian Embassy in Harare, there are about 9,000 Zimbabweans of Indian origin, who are predominantly from the province of Gujarat. The expatriate Indian community in Zimbabwe is very small numbering around 500 members. Some of them are on long term business or work permits, while most are professionals engaged in IT, accountancy and banking sector.