As part of the government's Africa outreach, Vice President Hamid Ansari will embark on a five-day tour of Nigeria and Mali to further strengthen India's bilateral engagements with the two nations.
He will go to Nigeria first at the invitation of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup told reporters here.
On the second leg of his trip, Ansari will go to Mali on September 29, the first ever high-level visit to that country from India.
He will be accompanied by his wife Salma Ansari, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal, four MPs and senior officials.
In Abuja, Ansari will hold talks with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Osinbajo, president of the Senate, speaker of the House of Representatives and deliver an address at the National Defence College of Nigeria.
He will also meet the governor of Lagos and deliver an address at the joint business forum at the University of Lagos.
The vice president will inaugurate the High Commission of India Chancery complex at Abuja and interact with members of the Indian community both in Abuja and Lagos.
"The vice president's visit (to Nigeria) intends to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries, expand and diversify bilateral economic engagement and explore new avenues of partnerships on a wide range of issues of shared common interest," Swarup said.
In Mali, Ansari will meet the president, the prime minister and also address the National Assembly.
The visit to Mali is aimed at boosting the relationship between the two countries and explore new areas of cooperation to expand and diversify bilateral relationship, the spokesperson said.
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On ties with Nigeria, Swarup said relations between the two countries have traditionally been friendly and the bilateral partnership was elevated to a strategic one in 2007.
"Both the countries also have strong defence cooperation," he said.
India is Nigeria's largest global trading partner while Nigeria is India's largest trading partner in Africa with bilateral trade amounting to USD 12.6 billion in 2015-16.
India is also the largest buyer of crude oil from Nigeria with approximately 12 per cent of the crude oil requirements being met through imports from the African country.
Indian companies also have large presence in Nigeria, which hosts the largest Indian community in West Africa.
According to Swarup, India has been a steadfast partner of Mali's reconstruction efforts, development and growth.
