India’s prime minister hopes his visit this week to four African nations, some not visited by an Indian leader in more than three decades, will reinvigorate cooperation in energy, trade and investment.
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Modi is aiming to enhance ties between India and the African continent, particularly in the economic sphere.
He said he had chosen this country as his first stopover in the four-nation tour that will also include South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya, as Nyusi had also made India his first stopover during his Asian tour previous year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was honoured in Mozambique and given a ceremonial welcome at the Presidential Office in Maputo. “We are also strengthening our partnership in food security”, the PM added. “And what Mozambique requires is available in India”, Modi said. India has been trying to control the prices of pulses, a staple diet for millions of its poor, which have doubled in the past 18 months because of two successive drought years.
India is also hoping to sign civil aviation agreements for introducing direct flights as none of the Indian airlines have direct connectivity with Africa, he said. No Indian airline has direct connections with Africa.
India is now South Africa’s sixth largest trade partner, with two-way trade reaching $5.3 billion in 2015-16.
He is also scheduled to interact with students at the Science and Technology Park at Maluana, near here, and with members of the Indian community before leaving for South Africa in the evening.
In Durban, South Africa, Modi is expected to take a brief train journey to commemorate Indian independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi, whose experience with racism while living in South Africa as a young man shaped his resistance to segregation with nonviolent protest.
Modi presented to the Mozambique President a booklet brought out by the Indian High Commission in English to act as a guide to the Indian business persons who intend to invest in this country.
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Associated Press writer Chonchui Ngashangva in New Delhi contributed.
