India to work with Africa to keep oceans open and free for benefit of all nations

New Delhi, Sept 10 (PTI) India will work with Africa to keep the oceans open and free for the benefit of all nations, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Monday and asserted that the two sides must work together to ensure that the second largest continent does not again turn into a "theatre of rival ambitions".

Swaraj said the two sides will work together for a "just, representative and democratic" global order that has a voice and a role for one-third of humanity that lives in Africa and India.

India's own quest for reforms in global institutions is incomplete without an equal place for Africa, she said.

"We will work with Africa to keep the oceans open and free for the benefit of all nations. India's vision of Indian Ocean Security is cooperative and inclusive, rooted in security and growth for all in the region. We must all work together to ensure that Africa does not once again turn into a theatre of rival ambitions, but becomes a nursery for the aspirations of Africa's youth," Swaraj said.

The Indian Ocean has been witnessing a growing presence of China. The African continent to has been witnessing the increasing presence of Beijing.

Swaraj was speaking at the signing of an agreement between the Ministry of External Affairs and Telecommunications Consultants India (TCIL), a government owned enterprise, for the e-VBAB Network Project.

Communications Minister Manoj Sinha and envoys of several African nations were present at the event.

Swaraj said the government has put Africa at the top of India's foreign policy priorities and this has been reflected in its actions.

"In the last four years, there have been 26 visits to African countries at the level of president, vice president, and prime minister, apart from several ministerial visits. It has been decided to significantly enhance our diplomatic presence in Africa with the opening of 18 new resident missions over the coming four years," she said.

The external affairs minister noted that the bridge for shared security has been built over the decades by Indian peacekeepers in Africa and, more recently, through cooperation in maritime security and counter-terrorism.

T S Tirumurti, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said the development partnership between India and Africa includes implementation of 180 lines of credit worth USD 11 billion to 40 African countries.

He said trade with Africa is valued at USD 62 billion, a 21 percent increase over the previous year.

Alem Tsehaye Woldemariam, the Ambassador of the Republic of Eritrea and the Dean of African Missions in India, cited the India–Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) organized by the MEA here in 2015 to say that the Indo-Africa partnership has seen a renewed momentum over the last few years.

African countries were represented at the highest level at the IAFS 2015 and it was a "watershed moment" in the Indo-African ties, he said.

The E-VBAB Network Project, which is in its second phase, focuses on pan-Africa tele-education (e-Vidyabharati) and tele-medicine (e-Arogyabharati) facilities. The first phase had begun in 2009 and was implemented in 48 partner countries across Africa from 2009 till 2017.

In the first phase of the project, tele-education and telemedicine facilities were provided by linking educational institutions and hospitals in India with those of the participating African countries.

Over the five years duration of the project, e-VBAB Network Project will provide free tele-education courses in various academic disciplines to 4,000 students from African countries every year.

The project will also be utilized for providing free Continuing Medical Education (1,000 every year) to African doctors/nurses/para-medical staff. Through this project, Indian doctors will provide free medical consultancy to those doctors in African nations who seek such consultancy.