India, Africa Should Cooperate to Foster Green Economy

March 05, 2015

New Delhi: India and Africa should come up with a common vision for the region, and translate it into concrete action, was the common consensus on the concluding day of the 3rd India-Africa Strategic Dialogue on ‘India-Africa: Building Synergies in Peace, Security and Development’. The Dialogue was organised by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) on March 3-4, 2015

People oriented policies should be encouraged to bring India and Africa closer. India can help in human resource development and capacity building in Africa through trainings, education and transfer of technologies, the experts noted.

Another area of cooperation between the two regions could be ‘Green Economy’, it was pointed out. Africa being blessed with vast reserves of natural resources can collaborate with India on the generation of wind, solar and hydro energy, said the experts. Agriculture and infrastructure sectors could be other areas of mutual cooperation between the two regions, they added.

Both India and Africa share concern on climate change and food security, the experts said, adding that India and Africa should cooperate to combat food scarcity. Africa should utilise India’s experience in Green Revolution, they pointed out.

The experts further, reiterated the need for harnessing human and financial resources in both India and Africa by investing on the needs of the people for building a sustainable future.

Discussing terrorism, they pointed out, that the issue is of deep concern to both India and Africa as political conflicts in Africa have recently been hijacked by terrorist movements with pan-regional and global agenda. Therefore it is important that India engages with Africa on these issues. The aim is to foster mutual learning and effective engagement.

They agreed that sub-state terror groups exist both in Africa and India, but their goals differ. Globalisation of terror has opened up space for cooperation of states in the field of counter-terrorism; particularly in intelligence sharing. It is important to delink African terrorism from global terror groups and address the localised problems, the experts noted. With a counter-terror architecture in place, India is in a position to cooperate with other countries and Africa to combat terrorism, it was pointed out.

Discussing bilateral engagements between India and Africa, the experts felt that while appropriate steps are being taken by respective governments, bilateral relations between India and African countries can still be strengthened with more frequent high level visits and interactions. The consensus was that Africa was not monolithic and that the needs and strengths varied greatly across the continent.

India and Africa have shared a close relationship for centuries, and this relationship has gained momentum in recent years. Greater economic engagement has been crucial to boosting ties between Africa and India.

The dialogue focussed on engagement between the two partners on the issues of Peace, Security and Development.