India-Africa Summit to be held every three years

By agencies & SSI staff writer

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia- African and Indian leaders on Wednesday have decided to hold Summits every three years to review the progress on areas identified for cooperation and spell out the future courses of action.
The Summits will be held alternately in India and Africa, taking off from the first such initiative that concluded this week in Delhi, India.

The next India-Africa Summit will be held in 2011 in an African country which will be identified later, according to the decision reached by the gathering. The summit which was the first India-Africa summit concluded with a pledge to work as partners to address economic and development challenges.
Manmohan Singh, Indian Prime Minister says India and Africa must meet their food needs through domestic production. He promised to help Africa with technology to increase farm productivity.

India’s message at the two-day India-Africa summit was simple: it wants to partner with Africa and aid its development as many countries in the continent try to modernize their economies.
African leaders say they are ready for investment and technology from India’s more mature economy. They requested India to “walk the talk” and deliver on its promises.

African Union head Alpha Oumar Konare said the meeting had understood Africa’s aspirations for a partnership on an equal footing.
“We do not want to be horses any longer on which people will continue to ride,” he said. “Everyone has to get off our backs. We will run the race like everyone else. We have to be ready to run and we are equal partners in the race.”

A “Delhi Declaration” adopted at the end of the summit pledged to strengthen the partnership between India and Africa. Both sides also said they will work together to protect the interest of developing countries on issues such as trade negotiations, reform of global institutions and climate change.

Among the key issues discussed during the summit include cooperation in areas of economics, politics, science & technology, social development and capacity building, infrastructure, energy and environment. The meeting was attended by leaders of 14 African countries such as Uganda, South Africa, Ethiopia, and Tanzania.