Narendra Modi: Indian Prime Minister, Chinese President Embark on Concurrent Trips to Africa

NEW DELHI: Visits of major Indians and Chinese visiting Africa this week will overlap, including trips to common destinations – South Africa for the BRICS Summit and bilateral trips to Rwanda. This is a rare opportunity because Beijing and Delhi are looking to expand their footprints on the resource-rich continent with some of the most dynamic economies.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will seek to expand their economic and military ties with Africa during their ongoing visits. While Xi will also travel to Senegal and Mauritius, Modi will travel to Uganda after his trip to Rwanda, an economy that grew by 6.1 percent last year.

India, which entered into a strategic partnership with Rwanda a few years ago, entered into a defense pact during Modi's trip on Monday. Officials explained that India has longstanding defense links with some of the African countries where leaders, including Nigeria, are former military colleges in India.

The African island nations – Mauritius and Seychelles – have longstanding ties with India since their independence and Seychelles and India have resumed work on a joint project on the island. of Assumption during the recent trip of President Danny Faure.

Meanwhile, China had recently organized a defense forum with African nations. China is already Africa's largest trading partner and opened its first military base on the continent last year in Djibouti, which this month launched a China-backed free trade zone. that she calls the biggest of Africa. While in Senegal, where the growth rate was 7.2% last year, China is looking to enter the Atlantic Ocean. India will seek to enter the Atlantic Ocean through Equatorial Guinea. India also has longstanding ties with Senegal in West Africa.

However, while the Chinese model resulting in high debt is facing a decline in some parts of Africa, the Indian approach is considered benign with a support program that is a mixture of subsidies and loans offered at nominal interest rates. Two lines of credit have been extended to Rwanda and a credit line will be extended to Uganda during the Prime Minister's visits with a total amount of $ 364 million. The highlight will be the address of the Indian Prime Minister to the Ugandan Parliament – an item missing from Xi's itinerary.

The Chinese government, banks, and entrepreneurs lent more than $ 94 billion to African governments and public enterprises from 2000 to 2015, according to the China Research Initiative in Africa. Johns Hopkins University. While India's total credit line to Africa is much lower than the Chinese figure, these loans have been offered at a nominal interest rate with no history of debt or negative reaction .

Indo-African ties received another boost after the third edition of their summit in 2015, which was attended by 40 heads of state and government of the continent. Since then, India has undertaken various projects, including the initiative to build conference centers across Africa as sustainable symbols – an area where China had developed expertise.

In the past three years, Indian Presidents and Vice Presidents have traveled to Africa with President Ram Nath Kovind who has made his first three trips overseas to the mainland. Similarly, India has hosted leaders of all the length and breadth of the continent. Several capacity building projects have been launched for African countries based on the strength of India. The underlying message in Delhi is that it has been a non-interfering partner and one that funds development projects based on local requirements and feelings.
While Modi and Xi are trying to strengthen their respective bilateral programs on the continent, they will meet on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg this week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said here Friday.

"They will exchange their views on the international landscape, the BRICS cooperation and other issues of mutual interest. For the American trade protectionism and unilateralism, the international community has aroused China and India support multilateralism and free trade.I think leaders will exchange their views on the issue of common interests, including this issue, it is also the consensus of the BRICS countries, "said a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Africa. This will be the third meeting between the two leaders this year, starting with the informal summit in Wuhan in April and meeting on the sidelines of the SCO summit in June.