An Amalgamation

The Conclave has become a prestigious event for Indian and African governments and industry to meet and explore new avenues of partnerships. The annual gathering enables the Indian and African leadership to take stock of the progress of the partnership and address future needs in this regard.

- Mr. Pranab Mukherjee

India-Africa, the next “Big Thing”?

Certainly so many forums and summits have been organized and are planned to be organized in the coming years, but what’s the hush about India- Africa association? The answer to this lies in the shared history of India and Africa. The association of India and Africa could be traced back to several centuries. The foundation of the relations between India and Africa was laid by Mahatma Gandhi. According to him, there will be a “commerce of ideas and services and not of raw materials and goods like imperialist powers”. The present government continues to take it as the foundation of Indo-Africa Policy. As per Vice President Hamid Ansari, “India shares Africa’s dreams and India Africa cooperation is genuine 2 way street partnership”. During the colonial period, there was a large immigration of Indian labour to work on the railways in East Africa, on sugar and other plantations in Mauritius, Madagascar and Southern Africa. The increase in the population of Indian diaspora in African countries resulted in increase of trade between their original homeland and their new-found habitat.

This relationship is a result of strong emotional link, which has been sculpted by the intersecting history, old ties of kinship, culture and commerce. Another factor is the quest for freedom against colonialism, which urges to take path of progress and establish on the global level as ‘one of the fastest growing economies’. India and Africa contribute to one-third of the world’s population, amongst which majority of them are youth, which is a significant share of the global youth population in the coming years.