Vice President Naidu's Three-nation Visit to Africa Concludes
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu who was on a six-day three-nation visit to Africa concluded his tour in Malawi on Monday and enplaned for New Delhi.
Lilongwe, Nov 5 (PTI) Vice President Venkaiah Naidu who was on a six-day three-nation visit to Africa concluded his tour in Malawi on Monday and enplaned for New Delhi.
Naidu, accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Krishan Pal Gurjar, embarked on his Africa tour from October 31 that aimed at deepening India's strategic cooperation with Botswana, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
On the first leg of his tour, the Vice President visited Botswana's capital Gabarone and inaugurated the Global Expo Botswana 2018, which saw a participation of 25 Indian companies and business houses covering a range of sectors.
Naidu also met President Mokgweetsi Masisi and his deputy Slumber Tsogwane.
He also interacted with the approximately 7,000-member strong Indian community in Botswana.
From Bostwana, Naidu arrived Zimbabwean capital Harare on November 2. He was the the first high-ranking Indian Government official to visit the country in 21 years.
Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda had visited Zimbabwe in 1996.
During Naidu's visit, India and Zimbabwe signed six signed agreements in the fields of mining, Information and communications technology (ICT), visa waiver, traditional medicine, broadcasting and art and culture.
India also announced that it would extend a USD 310 million loan to Zimbabwe to finance a rehabilitation project for Hwange thermal power plant that would entail upgrading the station and extending its lifespan.
Hwange is Zimbabwe's second biggest power plant with an installed capacity of 920 MW.
Naidu also met Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy Kembo Mohadi.
He also addressed members of the Indian community in Zimbabwe.
According to Indian Embassy in Harare, there are about 9,000 Zimbabweans of Indian origin, who are predominantly from the province of Gujarat.
The expatriate Indian community in Zimbabwe is very small numbering around 500 members. Some of them are on long term business or work permits, while most are professionals engaged in IT, accountancy and banking sector.
Naidu reached Malawi on Sunday in the last leg of his Africa visit.
During the visit, India announced to extend a new line of credit of USD 215.16 million for 18 water projects in the landlocked African nation.
The two sides also signed three MoUs on extradition, cooperation in atomic energy and visa waiver as Naidu met Malawian President Arthur Peter Mutharika in the country's capital Lilongwe.
The Vice President also met the Indian community here.
According to the Indian Embassy here, there are about 8,500 Malawians of Indian origin who predominantly originated from Gujarat and are concentrated in major cities like Lilongwe, Blantyre, Limbe, Zomba and Mzuzu.
The number of Indian nationals (NRIs) in the African country at present is about 2,500. Most of them hail from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. They are primarily engaged in trading, agriculture and agro business, pharmaceutical and hospitality.
Rajya Sabha member V Muraleedharan and Lok Sabha MP Kodikunnil Suresh were also part of the delegation accompanying Naidu.
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