Vice President Hamid Ansari will soon embark on a five-day visit to Rwanda and Uganda, seeking to further boost ties with them and broaden India's diplomatic footprint in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Ansari along with wife Salma will visit Rwanda from February 19-21 and Uganda from February 21-23, during which he would be accompanied by Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Vijay Sampla, four MPs, senior officials and a business and media delegation.
"This is the first high-level visit to Rwanda from India and the visit is taking place shortly after the official visit of President of Rwanda for the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in January 2017," a senior MEA official told reporters.
Also Read
MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said during this visit, the Vice President would be meeting the President of Rwanda, and the Vice President of the Senate and deliver an address at the University of Rwanda.
"The Vice President would pay homage at the genocide museum (in Kigali), interact with the Indian community in Kigali and attend a banquet hosted by the Prime Minister of Rwanda," he said.
"India-Rwanda relations are marked by cordiality, convergence of views and cooperation on major international issues and an increasing bilateral trade and investments, greater people-to-people contact and a deep sense of mutual respect.
"During the official visit of President Paul Kagame to India from January 9-11, a decision to give strategic content to our partnership was taken," he said.
From Rwanda, Ansari will proceed to Uganda for his visit to that country from February 21-23.
"During the visit, the Vice President would be meeting the Vice President of Uganda and the President of Uganda. The Vice President (Ansari) would also interact with the India community in Kampala," Swarup said.
The senior MEA official said that this will be the "first high-level bilateral visit from India to Uganda since 1997, i.E., after 21 years."
Relations between India and Uganda are characterised by historical cultural linkages, extensive economic and trade interest, and a convergence on major bilateral and international issues, the MEA Spokesperson said.
"The visit is expected to deepen and expand the bilateral relationships," he said.
"The forthcoming visit of the Vice-President is part of the conscious broadening of India's diplomatic footprint in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in the Great Lakes region," the senior official said.
"He will also address India-Uganda Business Forum. Besides, the Vice President would also be paying floral tribute to the bust of Mahatma Gandhi at a place called Jinja.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni had attended the third India-Africa Forum Summit held in October, 2015 in Delhi.
"Our engagement with Africa has intensified significantly. ....We had invited representatives of all 54 African countries at the Forum Summit in 2015. Since then we had 12 outgoing visits to Africa - three by the President, five by the Vice President already and the PM's four," the senior MEA official added.
"During the current government under our Africa outreach initiative, we have also had visits to African countries at ministerial level, except perhaps the CAR, the Central African Republic, and in many of these, no high-level visits had taken place for several years," she said.
"This underscores the importance that we attach, both our countries attach, to our relations," the official said.
In Rwanda, Ansari will also launch India-Rwanda Innovation Growth Programme as part of which there would be a technology expo of India's low-cost innovations. The Vice President along with the Prime Minister of Rwanda would address an India-Rwanda Business Forum, she said.
There have been some high-level visits from Uganda, including the visit by Ugandan President Museveni for the India-Africa Forum Summit, she said.
"As regards our relationship, both Rwanda and Uganda are important from the view point of trade, especially in the pharmaceuticals, automobiles and mechanical appliances and machinery sectors. Our trade with Rwanda has doubled over the last five years, while we are one of Uganda's largest trading partners," the MEA official said.
India is also one of the largest investors in Uganda.
Also, the Indian diaspora has invested over USD 1 billion in Uganda. Indian investors have also invested in agriculture, mining, construction, pharmaceuticals and financial services in both Uganda and Rwanda.
"30,000-strong Indian community is an important link of India with Uganda, and 3,000 Indian community members in Rwanda. India has also stationed a four-member military training team in Uganda since 2010 to train Ugandan defence personnel, and have also deployed a telecom expert.
"We have provided a Line of Credit for a hydrocarbon project, which has been completed and has been running successfully, and it is learned that the project has significantly augmented the power capacity of Rwanda.
"We have also solar-electrified 35 schools in Rwanda and an LoC has also been given for export-targeted agricultural projects," she added.
