The India-Africa Forum Summit from October 25 to 29 is expected to see discussions from trade to terrorism.
This will be the third such summit ever since it started in 2008. The latest summit was in 2011.
“The African continent is marked by resurgent economies. It is very important in trade and strategic terms,” Navtej Sarna, secretary (west) in the external affairs ministry, told reporters here on Friday.
The summit, likely to be attended by heads of 54 African states, will be preceded by a meeting of trade ministers, as Africa continues to be a strong potential trading partner, with two-way trade reaching $70 billion (Rs 4.53 lakh crore) in 2014-15.
“We have done extremely well in trade, which has expanded by about 20 times from 2001 to 2015 … In the years to come trade will only go northwards,” Sarna said.
According to Syed Akbaruddin, additional secretary and convener of IAFS, more than 400 business delegates will be attending the summit across sectors such as energy, health, technology and innovation.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited all of Africa. We have gone out of our way to represent Africa in an inclusive manner,” Akbaruddin added.
On India’s approach to Africa as against China’s, which has a huge presence in the continent, Sarna said it was defined by the relationship established since India’s independence.
“We have been partners with Africa for capacity building since the early days. We were there as the earliest peace-keepers and we were there with the major struggles that Africa had with discrimination and apartheid. Our approach stands on its own,” Sarna added.
During the summit there will be substantial discussions on counter-terrorism. Singapore and the UAE have been also been invited to attend the summit.
