India calls for greater cooperation with Africa

September 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni who is on a four day visit to India met her Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna here on Tuesday.

September 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Ahead of the G20 summit later this month, India has underlined the need for developing better surveillance and regulation to tackle the global financial crisis and stressed a bigger voice for developing countries in international financial institutions. "There should be better and transparent regulatory mechanism for capital markets as well as a stronger voice for developing countries, External Affairs Minister S.M.

August 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Seeking a greater foothold in the Indian Ocean Region, Defence Minister A.K. Antony Thursday left for a three-day visit to the Maldives during which a pact for greater defence cooperation is expected to be signed.

August 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony will Thursday embark on a three-day visit to the Maldives during which a pact for greater defence cooperation is expected to be signed even as New Delhi looks for a greater foothold in the Indian Ocean region.

August 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With India and Africa coming closer, a pioneering web portal to bridge the information gap was launched by External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna here Monday.

August 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Fiat India has set an ambitious target of exporting 7,000 cars this fiscal, up from just 800 in 2008-09. The company Wednesday said in a statement that it would focus more on South Asian countries as well as major automobile markets like South Africa to meet the target.

June 24th, 2009 BRUSSELS - Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade Wednesday criticised European Union (EU) policies towards Africa and said the continent was looking towards India and China for its economic needs, EuAsiaNews reported. Addressing a press conference in Brussels Wednesday, the Senegalese president accused the EU of isolating Africa and raising barriers against "black Africa".

May 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Vice President Hamid Ansari will go to South Africa Friday to represent India at the oath-taking of president-elect Jacob Zuma the next day. Ansari's visit will add more depth and content to strategic partnership between India and South Africa, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said here Wednesday.

May 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Former US Ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill, on Tuesday asserted that it was high time that both India and the US holds discussions on how to deal with a turbulent and chaotic situation in Pakistan. ddressing a conclave on the future of India-US ties in New Delhi, Blackwill also called for enlargement of India's role in Afghanistan as he said the American forces should work out on an exit policy from that country.

March 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The 21st Century is the century of a "resurgent India and a vibrant and self-confident Africa," said Minister of State for External Affairs and Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Anand Sharma, adding that it was time for India and Africa to step up their partnership to a new level, especially in the fields of capacity building and skills development. Delivering the valedictory address at the 5th CII-Exim Bank Conclave on India Africa Project Partnership here today, Sharma pointed to the successful launch of the Pan-African e-Network Project, and described it as "a pioneering effort in the fields of telemedicine and tele-education that would result in a mutually rewarding partnership." Conceding that the current meltdown was having an adverse effect on the investment climate, Sharma said: "It was time for industry to see this challenge as an opportunity by become more innovative.

March 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India continues to remain a 'reliable partner' of Africa and is looking at deepening relations with regional groups in the continent, a senior Indian diplomat said here Monday. 'India has been and will always remain a reliable partner for Africa,' Nalin Surie, secretary (west) at the ministry of external affairs, said at the first day of the CII-Exim Bank conclave on India-Africa project partnership 2009.

January 20th, 2009 HAVANA - Visiting Argentinean President Cristina Fernandez Wednesday called for greater unification of the Latin American countries through cooperation. During a meeting with her Cuban counterpart Raul Castro, the Argentine president discussed issues related to the regional economy and impact of globalisation.

January 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Paul Kagame, president of the Republic of Rwanda, Monday said it is 'absurd' India and Africa do not have any say in the expanded United Nations Security Council (UNSC), adding that the two regions ought to have permanent seats in the council. 'It is absurd that with a combined population of about two billion people, neither India nor Africa is represented in the United Nations Security Council,' Kagame said at the India-Africa Business Summit here.

January 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's diplomacy in West Africa received a much-needed boost as the two countries in the region expressed solidarity with India in the wake of the Mumbai carnage and Ivory Coast conferred its highest award upon Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma. Sharma, who visited Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast Jan 12-15, discussed the entire gamut of issues with the leaders of these countries that included the UN reforms, expansion of the UN Security Council and reshaping of the global financial infrastructure.

January 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Even as India's exports decline, India-African bilateral trade is projected to grow by over nine times from $26 billion now to $150 billion by 2012, according to an estimate by a leading business chamber. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), in a report on Africa, projects that in the next four years the continent will have greater business significance and drive two-way trade to over $150 billion.