India and Ghana looking at more cooperation in health, mining and defence: EAM Jaishankar
Accra, Oct 7 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) India and Ghana signed agreements on biodiversity, agricultural research and training on Wednesday while looking at more cooperation in pharmaceuticals, health, defence, mining, railways and digital sectors.
Speaking alongside Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa in Accra, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar also spoke about his meeting with Ghana President John Dramani Mahama and expressed gratitude to him for his contribution to bilateral ties.
“My main purpose of coming here, of course, was to follow up on Prime Minister Modi’s historic visit last year. And I’m truly touched that we began this visit by getting the guidance of President Mahama. He was very kind, very gracious, very forthcoming on what should be the ambitions and goals for our relationship. I thank him very, very sincerely for that, and what we are trying to do is that, now that we have established a comprehensive partnership, we need to live up to that. We need to find new areas of cooperation. We need to deepen our long-standing partnership, and that’s really what has been our discussion today.”
Emphasising that India and Ghana have been “historic partners” and “champions of the Global South”, EAM Jaishankar said, “When we look at Ghana from an Indian perspective, one of course for us, you have been historic partners. We have both been champions of the Global South before that term was even invented. And we have, I think, in the world, in difficult circumstances, stood up for the independence and the self-reliance and the dignity of countries who had earlier colonised, and I think that foundation, that legacy stands us in good stead. The bilateral dimension of our relationship was the focus today of our talks, and it was focused on how we take it to the next level.”
EAM Jaishankar said that, during his discussions with President Mahama and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, he mentioned the similarities between initiatives that have been introduced in both nations, like the Actra reset, which deals with health in Ghana and the Ayushman Bharat initiative of India; Feed Ghana, which focuses on food security; and programs introduced by India for the prosperity of farmers and promotion of millets, as well as Ghana’s goal of one million coders and Digital India and Start Up Programme.
“Given these similarities, given these parallels, I think it’s very natural for us as countries of the Global South to pool our experience to see what we can do to support each other, to share with each other. And many of the examples which the Minister described, I think, came out of that conversation. Certainly, other than the two agreements we signed today on agricultural research and training and on biodiversity, we are looking at more cooperation definitely in pharmaceuticals and health, in mining, in defence, in railways, in digital.”
EAM Jaishankar hailed the Indian community’s role in strengthening bilateral ties, describing them as a “living bridge” between India and Ghana. He stated that partnership between India and Ghana would help in strengthening resilience, promoting inclusion, ensuring that growth really delivers for people of the two nations.
“I’m also very pleased to see that Indian business has been very active in this country. We have a longstanding, very vibrant Indian community and the business part of that community, I think, has been really a living bridge between us. I know in recent months, there have been some big investment commitments which have been made in the pharmaceutical and medical sector, in the poultry sector, when it comes to renewable energy. So we really do believe today that our partnership would help in strengthening resilience, in promoting inclusion, in ensuring that growth really delivers for our people in what otherwise is a very turbulent and complicated world.”
–
