Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India is emerging as a global manufacturing hub and that several nations that used to export products to the country are now importing them, PTI reported. He was addressing the Indian diaspora in Ugandan capital Kampala.
Modi is on a five-day, three-nation tour to Africa. He arrived in Kampala for a two-day visit to Uganda on Tuesday evening. This is the first tour to Uganda by an Indian prime minister since 1997.
“India is becoming a manufacturing hub. Make in India today has become the hallmark of India,” Modi said. “Many of our products, including cars, smart phones, are sold today to countries from whom we used to import.”
He told the gathering that Samsung had recently inaugurated a phone factory in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida, and it is being dubbed the world’s largest mobile factory. The new facility is spread over 35 acres in Noida’s Sector 81. “It’s possible that when you buy a smartphone in Uganda next time, you will get the one Made in India,” he said. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was also at the event.
Hailing India’s ties with Uganda and other African nations, Modi said the “resource-rich continent” was at the centre of his government’s policy. Asia and Africa are better positioned in the new world order, he said, adding that trade between India and Africa has increased by 32%.
He added that India will open 18 new embassies in Africa, taking the total number to 47. He also unveiled a bust of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Kampala on Tuesday.
On Monday, the prime minister announced that India will extend two lines of credit to Rwanda – one each of $100 million (approximately Rs 689 crore) for the development of industrial parks, a special economic zone and agriculture. Modi was the first Indian prime minister to visit the East African country. Modi also announced that India will soon open its mission in Rwanda.
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