Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said India is proud to be Africa’s partner. “Uganda is central to our commitment to the continent,” he said while addressing the country’s Parliament.
Modi said India will extend two lines of credit to Uganda – one of $141 million (around Rs 968 crore) for electricity lines and another of $64 million (Rs 439 crore) for agriculture and dairy production, reported ANI.
Modi is on a five-day, three-nation tour of Africa. He arrived in Kampala for a two-day visit to Uganda on Tuesday evening. This is the first visit to Uganda by an Indian prime minister since 1997.
Modi said India’s partnerships in Africa include the implementation of 180 lines of credit worth about $11 billion (Rs 75,586 crore) in over 40 African countries. “In last Africa-India Forum Summit, we had committed a concessional line of credit of $10 billion and $600 million (Rs 4,122 crore) in grant assistance,” he said.
The prime minister said New Delhi’s engagement with Africa will continue to be guided by 10 principles, including easier trade with India, using India’s digital revolution to support Africa’s development, improving agriculture, addressing climate change and strengthening cooperation to combat terrorism and working towards a representative and democratic global order.
Modi said the India and Uganda have a shared struggle for freedom and uncertain paths as independent countries in a divided world have connected the two nations.
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.
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