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INDIA AND AFRICAA Saga Of Friendship HARI SHARAN CHHABRANew Delhi July 1986

Photo graphs: Photo Division, Government of India, New Delhi.Cover Design: Karuna KrishnaPhototypeset and Printed at Thomson Press (I) Ltd.Faridabad, (Haryana).

ContentsCHAPTERI Relations Through The Ages ...................................................5CHAPTER II Indian Settlers In A frica ..............................................................12CHAPTER III Decolonisation of Africa............................................................. 20Before the SixtiesPortuguese TerritoriesIndependence of Zimbabwe South Africa and ApartheidNamibiaUnited NationsCHAPTER IV P o litical R elatio ns ........................................................................ 50CHAPTER V Econom ic C oo peratio n.................................................................. 59Trade LinkagesJoint VenturesTechnical Assistance Consuttancy Services APPENDIX I African Tributes toNehru, Indira Gandhi ................................... ... 79APPENDIX II Indo-African Seminar on Cooperation........................................... 86

Indo-African Relations Through the AgesThe Indian Ocean, rather than divide the peoples of India and Africa, unites them,Being next-shore neighbours the peoples of the two continental regions are known

to have had close and friendly relations for the past many centuries. Ancientseafarers, who were quite knowledgeable about monsoon winds, sailed regularlybetween the West coast of India and the East coast of Africa to conduct trade thatwas free and flourishing.There is a growing body of evidence to show that much before Vasco da Gamadiscovered the routeto Indiaviathe Capeof Good Hope, Indians and EastAfricanswere in continuous contact with the whole Indian Ocean complex. Indeed,probably for many centuries, even much before the Greek sailor's guide ThePeriplusofthe Erythrean Sea was written,the Indian Ocean was a great highway ofcommercial intercourse and the main area of trade and navigation for Indians,Phoenicians and Arabs.This human intercourse was greatly facilitated by the monsoon trade winds whichblow from November to March from the northeast and carried dhows from Indiato the East African coast. From May through September the winds reversethemselves, blowing from the southwest, and so carried the dhows and the crewback to the Arabian peninsula, India, and the Far East. For the five months thatthe winds blow east to west, Indians, Arabs, and other Asians could reach severalpoints of East Africa, from the Horn to the present-day Mozambique and beyond,selling their goods, establishing contacts. According to one view some of theseAsians took up residence, intermarried with Africans and thereby provided thegenesis of present-day Asian communities in East Africa and the emergence ofpersons of Arab-.African descent, the Swahili.The Swahili culture orcivilisation isthus traced to the cosmopolitan character ofEast Africa when the Bantu people, Arabs, Indians, Persians, and Greeks tradedand intermingled. Early Portuguese reports testify to the humming trade. To quotethe eye-witnessaccount of Duarte Barbosa, a Portuguese official who served inIndia between 1500 and 1516, of the traffic at Sofala in present-day Mozambique:They (the Arab traders) came in small vessels named Zambucos from thekingdoms of Kilwa, Mombasa and Malindi, bringing many cotton clothes, somespotted and others white and blue, also some silk, and many small beads,gray, redand yellow, which things come to the said kingdoms from the great kingdom ofCambay (India) in other greater ships... These Moors collect also great store-ofivory which they find hard by Sofala, and this also they sell in the (Indian)kingdom of Cambay at five or six cruzados the quintal.

The skill of the Indian sailors atthe time Vasco da Gama appeared on the scenehas also been highlighted by the historical fact that the men who piloted him fromEastAfricato Indiawere Davane,an Arab brokerof Bombay and a Gujarati munshinamed Kanji, It was on May 20,1648 that, escorted by Kanji, Vasco da Gamaentered the court of the Zamorin of Calicut.Such documentary evidence apart, there is a view that the earliest recorded proofof the ancient Indo-African links is to be found in the Puranas of the Hindus.Colonel John Speke, an officer in the Indian army, who was financed by theRoyal Geographical Society to go to Africa in search of the source of the RiverNile from 1859 to 1861, claims he secured help in his explorations from the

ancient Hindu scriptures, In his well-known work, Journal of the Discovery of theSource of the Nile, Speke states:Colonel Rigby gave me a most interesting paper with a map attached to it aboutthe Nile and the Mountain of the Moon. It was written by Lt. Wilford from thePuranas. it is remarkable that the Hindus had christened the source of the RiverNile. This I think shows clearly that the ancient Hindus must have hadsome kind of connection with different parts of Africa.Speke ridicules the Egyptian geographers for their ignorance of the source of theNile, and adds:All our previous information concerning the hydrography of these regionsorginated with the ancient Hindus.. and all those busy Egyptian geographers whodisseminated the knowledge with a view to be famous for their long-sightednessin solving the mysteries, which shrouded the source of theNile (the holy river), were so many hypothetical humbugs,Following the directions in the map, he wentfrom Zanzibarto Kenya and thence toUganda, where he found the sweet water lake (Lake Victoria) and, to his joy, theRiver Nile flowing out from it.The same theme has been developed at length by Kakasaheb Kalelkar in his bookOur Next-Shore Neighbours. He asserts that the very fact that the Puranasmentioned Misr, the ancient Egypt, establishes that this region must have beer)known to ourforefathers. He is also convinced thatthe ancient Hindus knew of thegreat sweet water lake, which they called "Amar" (lake immortal), and theMountain of the Moon-Rwanzore-near the source of the Nile, lake "Amar".These referencesto the Nile in the Puranas may betraced to the fact thatthe Hindushad been trading with Rome, Greece, Egypt, and eastern Africa much before thebirth of Christ. A number of Greek travellers wrote about the trade in the firstcentury A.D, when it is said the voyage from India to Egypt took nearly twoyears, and the greattrading centreswere mainly Broach and Calicut on thewestcoast of India. Along with Ptolemy's Geography, another informative sourceabout this

region is the above-mentioned classic. The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, waswritten probably during the latter part of the first century by an Egyptian-Greekmerchant, who undertook a voyage to India along the Red Sea coast, passedthrough the Horn of Africa, and went southward down the Indian Ocean.Recounting his experiences in the book, which wasto serve as a navigationalmanual for many centuries, the Periplus provides ample evidence of the arrival ofIndian ships in the EastAfrican coastal towns and the flourishing trade extendingbetween India and beyond tothewestern world. There were important harbours onthe East African coast identified by him as Berbarika, Barygaza, Korkai, andPohar, Ships built and fitted by Indians sailed from the Indian ports with theirmerchandise, which consisted, among other articles, of pearls, precious stones,spices, wheat, rice, sugar, and a fine cotton cloth called muslin, all of which werein great demand in the world. In return, Indians imported from Africa ivory, goldand alabaster.

From the Peripluswe learn that coconut, said to have originated from India, wasfound in Zanzibar; the lac insect also went from India along with several otherplants and herbs. From this W.H. Schoff, who translated the Periplus gathered thatone could easily confirm that India had trade relations with Zanzibar and otherparts of Africa much before the voyage of the authorof the Periplus. Gold andivory remained the principal commodities which the Arabs exchanged formanufactured goods, cloth, metal works and beads.Closerto ourtimes more convincing proof is coming to ig ht through the work ofarchaeologists, particularly those who have participated in the extensiveexcavations of the great Zimbabwe ruins, which reveal that India's contacts in thecenturies gone by were not confined merely to the eastern coastal kingdoms buthad extended to the remote hinterland. R.N. Hall, Caton Thompson, L. Foucheand several others have come to the identical conclusion that the Indian beads andcoins discovered there are indicative of trade contacts between India andsouthcentral Africa, Caton Thompson even believes that Zimbabwe commodities,such as gold and copper, found a steady market in south-western India before theeighth and'ninth centuries A.D. L. Fouche holds the view that iron spearheads,coiled wire, bronze objects, and some imported glass beads found in the ruinswere of Indian manufacture.A vivid and colourful account of another aspect of Indo-African relations, thepresence of Africans in India, has also been left by Ibn Battuta, who visited Indiaprobably in A.D. 1342. He found that the Africans in India were used primarily asmercenary soldiers, crewmen on dhows, and dockworkers. Recounting his visit toAlapur, a small town southeast of Gwalior, he wrote that the Governor was anEthiopian. The Governor's bravery was proverbial. He was tall and obese, avoracious eater, devouring a whole sheep in one meal followed by a pound and ahalf of "ghee" (clarified butter) in keeping with the custom of his Ethiopiancompatriots.Further evidence of the extent to which Africans were brought to India by Arab

traders can be illustrated by the fact that the Muslim king of Gaur in West Bengal,who ruled between 1474 and 1495, is stated to have recruited about 8,000 Africansoldiers. These Africans, Indian history record, were brave and magnificentfighters, and some rose to glorious heights and became legendary figures. Thestory of Queen Razia Sultana, who was deeply influenced by an African, Yakut, astable boy, is a well-known episode in Indian history. Her name is romanticallylinked with him. She elevated him to the post of master of stables. Hijs rise topower triggered off a revolt by the nobility of her court, leading to the murder ofYakut. There are several other instances of the African soldiers rising against theirrulers and usurping power. In the kingdom of Bengal, one Shamsuddin AbuNassar Muzzaffer Shah, who seized power, was an Ethiopian. Commenting on theAfricans who rose to power, the historian Coupland says: "Had they suffered tostay in Bengal, it is conceivable that they might have mastered a Kingdom as theMamelukes, three centuries later, mastered Egypt."During the Moghul rule alsoAfricans are reported to have played an importantpart in political life. In the Deccan, when the Moghul emperor, Jahangir, came

into conflict with the Hindu ruler of Ahmednagar, his success was thwartedlargely because of the military leadership of theAfrican MinistercalledMalikAmber. Itwas not only in the army, but in the navy also that the Africans,again mainly Ethiopians, praised as seafarers, distinguished themselves. Theirrecord of service during the time of Shivaji is acknowledged as an importantfactor in his resistance to his opponents on sea and land, while in 1670, EmperorAurangzeb, it is equally well known, appointed oneSiddi as hisAdmiral.Africanswere also recruited in the armies of the Nizam of Hyderabad till Indiaattained independence and the state was merged with the Indian Union. Thesepeople of African origin, who generally call themselves ex-faujis (ex-servicemen), have settled in Hyderabad intermarried and merged with themainstream of India. Similarly, on the west coast of India, in Junagarh, there isstill a whole village inhabited by people of Ethiopian.origin who mainly work aslabourers in the famous Gir forest-the home of Indian lions.Historians have also begun to focus attention on the return and resettlement ofAfricans in East Africa and in various partsof Asia, on the Arabian peninsula, andin Persia and India. Joseph Harris points out to these resettlements resultingmainly from European efforts to abolish the slave trade in India.Most of the liberated children were enrolled in mission schools such asthe RomanCatholic Sisters of Mercy and the Church of Scotland Mission, both in Aden, andthe CMS African Asylum In Nasik, near Bombay, India.... and the hope was thatthese schools would supply black missionaries for East Africa... (In fact), Ninefrom Nasik accompanied David Livingstone to East Africa in 1865; several othersbecame missionaries in Ethiopia, Kenya, andMozambique.He goes on to refer to the "Impressive" role, in particular of "Bombay-Africans",

named afterthe 150 who arrived in Freetown near Mombasa from Bombay in1875.With their knowledge of English and Swahili, English customs and crafts, theywere soughtas catechists and teachers by European missionaries, agentsforEuropean merchants, guides and interpreters for European explorers. Theyitinerated widely along the coast and in Zanzibar and were responsible for theestablishment and conduct of several missions which catered primarily toexslaves... Bombay-Africanswere training and caring forsome3,000ex-slaves atseveral locations.... Many of the European reports on the social conditions andgeography of Africa were based on reports and journals of "BombayAfricans" likeWilliam Jones.As a group with western training but denied opportunities equal to Europeans inmission stations, the "Bombay-Africans" became a source of protest againstdiscrimination in churches and missions,If the Africans came to India in those early days, so did a large number of Indiansgo to East Africa for the purpose of trade and commerce and laterto replace thevacuum created bythe abolition of slave trade, It is not known exactlywhen thefirst Indian settlement grew up in Africa, but R. Coupland in his book East Africaandltslnvaders writes that some sort of Indian settlement came about around the

same time as that of Arabs in the seventh century, Subsequently, the number ofsuch settlements increased considrably. There was, howevere a vast difference inthe social and economic life of the Indian and Arab settlers. While theArabsbegan gradually to identify themselves with the ruling class, the Indian settlersconfined their activities exclusively to trade and commerce. The Arabs acquiredlands and generally controlled the lucrative slave trade. The Indians were from theearliest days-what they still are in East Africa-the masters of finance, the bankers,and also the shopkeepers. Much of the actual trade was either directly in theirhands or managed by them for wealthy Arab land owners. But if the indians thusrendered an essential service to the community as a whole, the Arabs had to payin the long run for not doing it themselves. Dependence on Indian industry andskill did help the Arabs to get rich for some time, but it graduallyweakenedtheireconomic independence and initiative.With the spreadof news in India aboutthe prosperityof the Indians in EastAfrica,immigration to Africa increased considerably, so much so that Colonel Rigbywrote in 1860 that nearly all shops In Zanzibarwere kept bythe Indians, The Saidof Zanzibar, who took control of the island by.usurping the sovereignty of Muscatin 1806, encouraged the Indians in EastAfrica, not only by giving them completereligious, social, and economic freedom, but also with service in theadministration and finance, largely because the Arabs in general lacked therequired skill and expertise. When Kirk arrived in Zanzibar as the Political Agentof India (1866-1877), there were five to six thousand Indians settled in the coastaltowns and at the trade posts in the interior, Of these, about 3,660 came fromBritish India orfrom the Indian

states of Gujarat and the restfrom the other parts of the country, The largemajority of the Indian immigrants were Muslims belonging to the Khoja andBohra communities. Unlike the Hindus, who came without wives and children toearn a livelihood and return some dayto their motherland, the Muslim were truecolonists, bringing their families with them and making EastAfrica their home.Kirkestimated the amount of British Indian capital invested in Zanzibar at no lessthan £ 1.6 million, about one-eighth of this had been advanced to the Arabsresiding in Zanzibar. Besides the Indian monopoly of trade and finance, anincidental point is that the Indian rupee and not the sterling was the East Africancurrency till the end of the First World War.While Indians have settled in East African coastal areas for many centuries thelarge majority of the present Indian population in Africa is of recent growth. Theheavy influx of Indians started after the abolition of slavery in the British empirein 1833, especially to Natal and Transvaal in South Africa, to save its vast sugarplantations from total collapse. In East Africa, the Indian population till the end ofthe 19th century comprised mostly of traders. With the start of the construction ofthe Kenya-Uganda railway in 1807, over 25,000 technicians and labourers werebrought from India. Of them, more than 90 per cent returned home after theexpiry of their contracts, Fresh batches of professionals-doctors, lawyers,engineers, and teachers-from Gujarat and Punjab entered East Africa in the early20th centuryand later. This fact is contraryto the popularbelief among theAfricans

and the Europeans in East Africa that the present Indian population are mostly thedescendants of the "coolies" employed during the railway construction.With the coming of the railway, Indian traders spread along the new railway lineinto the interior. Outstanding among these merchant traders was Alladin Visram,perhaps the greatest single figure in the economic history of East Africa, An earlyadvertisement described him as:"Dealer in provisions, beads, piece-goods, copper and iron wires, equipment ofcaravans, enamel ware, etc. Buyer of ivory, rubber, hides and skins and all kindsof East African and Uganda produce. Importer of merchandise fromEurope, America and India".By 1904, his chain of stores and activities had extended from Dar-es-Salaam toHoima, and from Zanzibar to Gondokoro-with a total of 30 branches of hisconcern. His serviceswere recongised bythe Kabaka of Buganda aswell as by theKenyan and Ugandan governments. He even acted as a banker advancing cashagainst cheques and in time issuing his own cheques, The Indians that followedVisram were not pioneers on the grand scale like him. But they all played animportant part in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika bycarrying trade enterprisesinto the remotest corners of these countries.To conclude, the history of Indo-African relations, like the history of Africa itself,is still in itsinfancy, A great deal of research needs to be done from the valuablema-

terials, that are still lying untapped, in India, AfricatheArab countries, and Europe.From the available material one can only see the tip of the iceberg concealing therich, varied and extremely friendly relations which have existed from timeimmemorial.

Indians in AfricaIt is because of the long historical connection between India and the east coast ofAfrica that a large Asian community had established itself in Kenya, Uganda andTanzania by the beginning of the 20th century. The Kenya-Uganda Railway builtby Indian technicians and labour helped Asian settlements in the hinterland ofEast Africa. Indians also began venturing into Mozambique and neighbouringcountriesof Central Africa. Indian settlement in Ethiopia, though small, issaid tobe quite old. Indian settlement in West Africa, however, was nonexistent thenbecause of difficult terrain, distance and general unfamiliarity.With the abolition of slave trade In the British colonies in the early 19th centurybegan Indian migration as indentured labour. Slavery had been an inexhaustiblesource of extremely cheap unskilled labour in plantations owned by Europeans Inthe various parts of Africa. When this source of labour dried up, the Europeancolonisers were forced to look elsewhere, and India provided a fertile source ofcheap "indentured" labourwith the connivance of the British Government of India,especially in South Africa and -Mauritius.Little human consideration wasgiven tothis bonded labour, and many perished inthe hardships of travel and settlement in hostile, and strange territory withnonexistent health facilities. The immigrants, especially in East Africa, who in

later times also comprised skilled and semi-skilled persons, as aslo contractors,small traders and clerks, assisted the British In opening up the countryside and inproviding middle-grade administrators. Theyalso established shops, schools andhospitals. The Asian migrants' contribution to the development of East Africa hasbeen acknowledged by many authorities, including Winston Churchill,The colonialists had followed a policy of manning skilled and semi-skilled postsby their own nationals. Africans were used for jobs In the lowest rung andmiddlelevel positions were held by Asians. It was often said that Asians weredoing jobs which were above the ability of Africans, but below the dignity ofEuropeans.In South Africa the early planters in the sugar plantations of Natal experiencedgreat difficulty in securing labour, and the European colonisers found certainadvantages in employing Asian labour, and India, which had already suppliedlabour to Mauritius in 1834 and to British Guyana in 1837 under the indenturesystem, wasthe obvious source from which to obtain It. The Government of Natalsecured the first Indian labourers by indenture in 1860, despite some oppositionfrom Europeans other than sugar planters. Immigration was suspended between1866 and 1874 during the economic depression resulting from the American CivilWar, but the planterssecured its renewal in 1874 and even prevailed on theGovernment to financethe costs of recruitment in India. Some30,OOOAsianworkers entered Natal between 1.874 and 1886.

Meanwhile, public opinion in India was dissatisfied with the living and workingconditions of Indian labourers in South Africa. The British Government wasinduced to take an interest in the condition of Indians in Africa, and even gave asone of its reasons for resorting to the Anglo-Boer War the disabilities imposedupon its Asian subjects by the Transvaal Government. Finally, in 1911 theGovernment of India vetoed further recruitment for the Union of South Africa.The indentured labourers were recruited by agents in India u nderagreementstoserve on terms. approved by the Government of India for a period which wasoriginally three, but was later extended to five years, Thereafter they resumedtheir freedom, and they could either enlist for a further term of indentured service,or could avail themselves of a free return passage to India or remain as settlers inSouth Africa on a small plot of land which was to be provided by theGovernment,European opposition to the presence of Asians grew in proportion to the increasein the number of ex-indentured labourers opting to stay as "free settlers". TheNatal Government ceased to make grants of land to "free settlers", and tried invain to recruit labour on condition of making it compulsory for them to return.Other disabilities put in the way of Indians included atax of three pounds sterlingperannum from "free settlers". This amount was equivalent to six months earningson the indenture scale. All traders were required to obtain licences from the localauthorities. In 1903 an additional tax of £3 was imposed on, the children of "freesettlers" when they attained the age of majority. Transvaal also imposed a £3licence fee on Asian traders and authorsed the Government "as a sanitarymeasure", to set aside streets, wards, and locations for the habitation of Asians,

thus introducing for the first time the principle of residential segregation.Transvaal also imposed a European-language test which in effect excluded aconsiderable number of Asians seeking entry into the state.In spite of these measures, the number of Indians was growing in South Africa,and in 1904 the total Asian population of Natal, including some 60,000 "freelabourers" settled in the colony, amounted to 100,918, compared with a Europeanpopulation of 97,109. The hostility of the European settlers to the growingnumber of Asians had found violent expression in a demonstration at Durban in1896, when MohandasKaramchand Gandhi, then alittle-known Indian lawyer,narrowly escaped with his life. And when in 1907 the Government made itcompulsory forall Asians to register their finger-prints with the administration, Itbecame the occasion In 1908 for Gandhi's first passive resistance campaign, In theyears between 1919 and 1925 further legislative restrictions were laid on theacquisition of property by Asians. In 1925 the Union Government introduced theAreas Reservation and Immigration Restriction Bill, which the Minister of theInterior admitted was specifically aimed against Asians. He said: "The Billfrankly starts from the supposition that the Indian as a race in this country is analien element In the population, and that no solution of this question will beacceptable to the country, unless It results in a very considerable reduction of theIndian population."Though the trading practices of some individual Indian traders in East Africa

may have caused occasional friction, there is no doubt that Asian traders andartisans opened up East Africa for development. The white people only followedthe track blazed by Indians and only occupied the territories where Indians hadcreated better living conditions, It can be said with certainty that were it not forAsian enterprise and the spirit of adventure, the East African economy would nothave attained the level it hastoday. The economicsuccess of theAsian communityin East Africa has been due to their hard work and possession of certain qualitiesessential for economic development. These qualities, while vitally important foreconomic development, are essentially "unheroic" and did not always endear theirpossessors to other communities.The Asians' virtual monopoly of wholesale and retail trade exposed them tocharges of dishonesty and sharp practices. Certainly not all the Asian businessmenwould have been entirely immune to resorting to sharp practice, just likebusinessmen from any other community. The unfortunate part of the phenomenonin East Africa was that this was seen in racial terms because of the factthatthe"Dukawalas" belonged to one community.In all this racial prejudice, the constructive contribution of Asians to Africa'sdevelopment tends to be forgotten. Lord Hailey wrote in An African Survey(1957):There can be no doubt of the value of the contribution made by Asians to thedevelopment of the economy of Kenya. It was estimated in 1944 that they paid27.75 per cent of the indirect taxation as compared with 37 per cent by Europeans.But, as was pointed out in the Financial Inquiry made by Lord Moyne in 1932,figures such as these do not suffice to indicate the part which has been played

byAsiansin the development of the country either astraders, or in marketing nativeproduce, or as artisans and craftsman. In these directions they have performed afunction which Europeans were notprepared and Africans were not qualified to discharge.As a matter of fact the white settlers pitted Indians and Africans against eachother, They would have succeeded but for the enlightened Indian leadership andthe diplomatic efforts of the Government of India implemented through thestatesmanship of men like Apa Saheb Pant, the first Indian Commissioner inEastern Africa. The white settlers, however, succeeded in having Pant expelledfrom Kenya. Pant's home was a haven to African political leadership from all thecountries of the region including Southern Rhodesia, (Zimbabwe), NorthernRhodesia (Zambia), Nyasaland (Malawi), and Uganda and they got a message inthe early days of India's independence that New Delhi could be fully dependedupon to support the African cause despite the powerful opposition of the colonialmasters.Jawaharlal Nehru, with an astonishing degree of foresight, had seen the turn ofevents in Africa, how the tide might turn against Indian settlers there with thesurge of African nationalism. As early as 1938, even before India gained freedom,he had warned:14

It may bethat In the process of exploitation to some extent even my owncountrymen have taken part, I am sorrAforthat. So far as we in India areconcerned, the policy we wish to follow Is this. We do not want anyone fromIndia to go to anycountryand to function anywhere against thewishesof the peopleof that country, whether it is Burma, East Africa, or any other part of the world, Ithink the Indians in Africa have done a great deal of good work. Some of themhave also derived a great deal of profit. I think indians in Africa or elsewhere canbe useful members of the community. But only on this basis do we welcome theirremaining there, that the interests of the people of Africa are always placedfirst.Pandit Nehru again spoke on the issue in early 1950:In many parts of Africa-East, West and South-there are considerable number ofIndians, mostly business people. Our definite instructions to them and to ouragents in Africa are that they must always put the interest of the indigenouspopulation first. We wantto have no Indian vested interests at the expense of thepopulation of those countries. I do submit that this is a somewhat unusualdirection to give for any country to its representatives abroad. We do intendprotecting our interests everywhere, but not at the expense of the people of thosecountries. We want to be friends with them; we want to cooperate with them andhelp them to advance wherever they are backward. We do notwish to exploitthem; we do not wish to encourage in anyway any kind of discrimination, racial or otherwise.Pandit Nehru never tired of repeating this theme whenever the occasion called forit. Among his many statements on the issue, the following, made in mid-1953,bears quoting at length:

AboutAfrica and Indians there, I may tell you, the policywe have pursued formanyyears ... we have told them verydefinitely and precisely that we as agovernment do not encourage or support them in anything they might want whichgoes against the interest of the Africans, We have made that perfectly clear. Weshall support them, of course, in their legitimate demands but not if thesedemands are to gain any privilege at the expense of the Africans. We have toldthem that they are there with the goodwill of the Africans. If the Africanswant topush them out theywill be pushed out, Of course, that may be an idealistic attitudeif you like, but it is also a constructive attitude, becausethat is the only way theycan live there in peace and quiet. We have to educate opinion. There was aconflict in their interests. Indians are mostly merchants and traders and someAfricans did not like them, But this policy having percolated down, there has beenmuch more goodwill towards Indians than there was previously, and in all thesetroubles it is very seldom that you find Indians involved.

No Indian immigration has been allowed into the African countries for more than30 years now, except for specially recruited professionals like doctors, lawyers,accountants, engineers, architects and teachers who go only for a timeboundperiod, In places like Kenya and Tanzania, the number of Indians has come downto a half of what it was when these countries gained independence.Alarge number of Indians did not also acquire the nationality of the countries oftheir domicile. They preferred to obtain British passports, Mentally also theyremained aloof from their surrounding people, still owing their cultural andspiritual allegiance to India and their roots there. They did not become Indiancitizens nor were they assimilated into the general population of the countries inwhich they found themselves. They were thus strangers to India and strangers tothe countries of their domicile,After independence, while India kept on advising the Indian settlers to appreciatethe urges and aspirations of the indigenous population and to make common causewith them in their freedom struggle, their position was not an enviable one. Amajority of the Asians in EastAfrica and many of them in Mauritius and SouthAfrica became prosperous and this resulted in jealousies. A number of Africanleaders in East Africa began saying that in order to protect their economicinterests, the Asian settlers had been interested in prolonging the colonial rule.There was hardly any factual honesty in such statements, because the fact was thata large number of better educated Asians were fully supporting the cause offreedom.After the dawn of independence in East Africa in the early sixties, the Asiansettlers began slowly giving up retail trade (especially in the cities) and smallclerical jobs. Many of them have taken to Industries and specialist jobs andprofessions. But the community's position as such was not happy and theirpopulation has been dwindling.The policyof African isation had to come, but it did affect the Asians to a largeextent. Take the Kenyanisation policy, for example, The Government of Kenyahas been keen thatAsians with British passports should elither leave the country ortake up Kenyan citizenship, TheGovernmentof Indiawould have noquarrelwith

Kenya on this issue, A commentary on Kenya Radio said on September 12,1967:"Kenya Government is bound to look after the welfare of its citizens, but it is inno way bound to provide the same facilities to the nationals of an alien countryeven of a friendly alien.... Now that the indigenous people of this land want totaste the fruits of their Uhuru (freedom) for which they fought and offeredmaximum sacrifices, most of the British passport holders feel that they have beencheated out of their cake."In 1967, when the Government of Kenya spelt out its Kenya nisation policy, therewas a mass exodus of Asians holding British passports to Britain, but the latterthrough the Commonwealth Immigration Bill restricted their entry. There wasserious concern in India because the affected people were of Indian origin, PrimeVinister Indira Gandhi assured Parliament on February 16, 1967 that her

government was giving serious thought to this problem. The House was also toldby the Deputy Minister of External Affairs that there was no discriminationagainst Indians holding Kenyan citizenship. The measures taken by Kenya wereagainst those who did not have Kenyan citizenship. There was also nodiscriMination against those whose application for citizenship was still pendingfor decision, he said.The Indian Parliament was then told thatof the 186,000 people of Indian origin inKenya, about 130.000 were British citizens. There were only 4,000 Indiannationals and about 49,000 were Kenyan citizens. The House was informed:The Government of India was not aware of deportation of Indian nationals fromKenya although recently some people of Indian origin with British passports hadbeen going from KQnya to the UK. In consequence of the Kenya Immigration Actof 1967, all residents who were not citizens of Kenya were required to take outwork and residence permits. And extension of the Immigration Act was a new lawlicensing all trades and providing that non-citizens might get licence to trade onlyin certain items and in certain areas.But the mass expulsion from Uganda of Asians holding British passports by IdiAmin in August 1972 earned the wrath of the Government of India and the public,India felt that it was inhuman and 'cruel to those who had lived in Uganda fordecades to be asked to quit in just three months, even though it "always viewedwith understanding the aspiration of the African countries to regulate theirinternal affairs in the best interestsof their citizens". The Indian Parliamentwastold that the Governmentof India had decided to introduce, with immediate effect,avisa system to prevent the entry into India "in haste and panic" of a large numberof British passport holders of Indian origin from Uganda. At the same time theDeputy Minister of External Affairs said: "We are in touch with Ugandanauthorities and I can assure the House that we shall do everything we can toprotect the interest of Indians there and ensure that those who might eventually beaffected are treated equitably, humanely and with dignity."The Government of India made it known that it would not accept the bulk ofAsians, said to be 40,000, with British passports who were to be expelled fromUganda. India held the viewthat allAsians in East Africa who held Britishpassports were Britain's responsibility and the group which was then threatened

with expulsion would come under the same policy which India applied to theAsians who were forced out of Kenya. Indian policy was that these Asians wereallowed into the country in limited numbers on humanitarian grounds if theirpassports were endorsed to the effect that Britain acknowledged that theimmigrants were British responsibility. India later ridiculed Idi Amin for hisirresponsible charge that India was planning to attack Uganda in cooperation withTanzania and Zambia,India was disturbed when it became known that Indian passport holders were

also to leave the country in 90 days before the November8, 1972 deadline, TheGovernment of India started evacuating the Indian nationals numbering about5,000 from Kampala by rail to Mombasa and then by ship to Bombay. In adiplomatic move, India asked the Ugandan Government for an assurance of safetyof the life and property of Indian nationals under orders of expulsion,The contribution of the Asians to Uganda became clear when the Ugandanauthorities began to feel the effects of mass expulsions. According to reports in1973, education, engineering, building and transport services, export and importtrade, industry and urban consumers were all adversely affected. The country'seducational system was under great strain with the departure of 700 Asianteachers and lecturers. Three hospitals in Kampala were abandoned because of theserious shortage of doctors, The judiciary also suffered with the shortage ofmagistrates. A full-page advertisement in the Government-owned newspaperVoice of Uganda appeared for 64 posts at one sugar estate alone.President Idi Amin promised that Indians expelled from Uganda would becompensated for their properties and business. This assurance wap given by himto Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when they met In Algiers at the Non-alignedSummit on September 1, 1973. Earlier, in a meeting with the Indian HighCommissioner in Kampala, Amin indicated that he was keen on promotingIndiaUganda relations and would like to see greater cooperation between the twocountries. He wanted India to understand that the expulsion of Asians should notbe construed as hishaving anything against India. He said he had onlytaken stepsto put Ugandan economy into the hands of the Ugandans.India places the question and problems of Indian settlers in East Africa and inSouth Africa on a different footing (Indians in Mauritius are Mauritians). Foryears the Governmentof India's sympathies have been with the people of Indianorigin in South Africa, because they have suffered the ravages of racialdiscrimination along with the Africans and the"coloureds", Mahatma Gandhi,Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi have always advised theIndian settlers to make common cause with other non-whites in their struggleagainst the rule of the white minority. India feels happy and satisfied that by andlarge the Indians have had good relations with the Africans and "coloureds". Afew Indians belonging to the South African Indian Council, a puppet organisatlonof the Government of South Africa, are known to be supporting the racistgovernment. India has nothing to do with these stooges.It is a matter of gratification to India that the Natal Indian Congress and TransvaalIndian Congress, with which Mahatma Gandhi was associated, have fought the

liberation struggle In South Africa on a common platform with the AfricanNational Congress. A number of Indians in South Africa today are behind theanti-apartheid activities of the United Democratic Front. We in New Delhi areconvinced that the recent disturbances between the Africans and the Indians inDurban were the handiwork of the Botha regime's hirelings. Mewa Ramgobin,grand son-in-law of Mahatma Gandhi, who isone of the accused in the treason tri-

als in South Africa, has borne testimony to this fact. Asonetalksof the crucial roleplayed by Indians in South Africa in promoting the unity of the oppressed people,one is reminded of the talkswhich led to the alliance of the ANC and the twoIndian Congresses (in Natal and Transvaal) in 1947-the "Three Doctors' pact"signed by Dr A.B. Xuma, Dr Yusuf Dadoo and Dr G.M. Naicker. Theyparticipated actively in the Campaign of Defiance in 1952, A number of Indiansfaced treason trials along with Mandela and they face similar trials as members ofthe United Democratic Front today.Apart from nearly one million people of Indian origin in South Africa and about150,000 in Kenya, Ta nzania and Uganda, Indian population in the continent ofAfrica istotheextentof 2.5 million, As in South Africa and EastAfrica, theGovernment of India's advice to Indians in other parts of Africa Is also that theyshould consider the interests of the local population as paramount, As"ambassadors" of India, they should play a role that will strengthen Indo-Africanfriendship and understanding.No discussion on the role of Indians in Africa will be complete without a mentionof the contribution made by Indian teachers in Ethiopia. Any Ethiopian official,military or civilian, will tell you with pride that he was taught English,mathematics or physics by an Indian teacher in his remote village or in AddisAbaba.The Government of Ethiopia has recently honoured sorhe Indian teachers whohave been serving the country for long periods. The teachers received medals andcertificates at a ceremony held in Addis Ababa in connection with education.Indian teachers first came to Ethiopia In 1947 and since then their number hasbeen increasing year after year. One of the teachers who landed in 1947, Mr I.J.Muthusami, is nowan adviserin the Ministryof Education. His name is ahousehold word In every nook and corner of Ethiopia.Indians settled in Africa have come a long way since the days of indenturedlabour and of Mahatma Gandhi. The countries of Africa have also come a longway having graduated from colonies to independent nations, South Africa being adifferent sort of an entity.Today the Government of India would defend the legitimate rights of the peopleof Indian origin If they are wronged, but it would want them to behave as"ambassadors" of India, so asto win the goodwill of the indigenous people and tohelp the development of the country of their adoption. The paramountcy of theinterests of Africans in Africa has to be accepted with Indian settlers expecting nospecial privileges. In the final analysis, the success of Indo-African friendship andcooperation will largely depend on the way the people of Indian origin behave intheir new homes,

Decolonisation of AfricaIndia's long struggle for freedom and the world-wide movement againstimperialism have in historical perspective been so intermingeld that it would bedifficult to extricate one from the other. Not only Mahatma. Gandhi andJawaharlal Nehru, but the Indian nation as such considered its independencestruggle to be part and parcel of a campaign to dismantle colonial shackles inAfrica and Asia.The Indian National Congress, the vanguard political movement, with its liberalsensibilities was cosmopolitan in its character from its very birth. A number ofIndian nationalists returning home afterwestern education gave the Indianfreedom struggle an international outlook, Inside the Congress Party they raisedthe banner of freedom on a universal plane.The history of the Congress Party is replete with examples of its Internationalism,Way back in 1904 it strongly protested to the British imperialists forwastingIndian financial resources for its expedition in Tibet. It had from time to timebeen demanding thewithdrawal of Indian troops from Britain's anti-peopleadventures in China, Persia, Mesopotamia and in British colonies. From 1920onwards the Congress fully backed Mustafa Kamal Pasha's liberation struggle inTurkey against western domination. Support to Egypt's Wald nationalists and tothe peoplesof Palestine forms a glorious record of the Indian national movement.The Congress lost no time in sending a message of congratulations to the peopleof China after they successfully concluded their revolution under Sun Yat-Sen ontheir having "attained their full and complete freedom and nationhood and endedtheera of foreign domination in their country". At the same time the CongressParty felt thatwestern Imperialism in other parts of the world presented "a greatmenace to India's freedom struggle".The Congress Party's participation In the 1926 Brussels Congress againstImperialism led it at its 1929 Calcutta session to say categorically:The Congress, being of opinion that the struggle of the Indian people for freedomis a part of the general world struggle against imperialism and its manifestation,considers It desirable that India should develop contacts with other countries andpeo pleswho also suffer Imperialism and desire to combat it. The Congress,therefore, calls upon the All India Congress Committee todevelop such contacts and to open a foreign department in this behalf.In 1937 when Italian forces occupied the defenceless Ethiopia, the Congress Partystood up in protest and in solidarity with the African nation. At its Lucknowsession, it offered "sympathy of the Indian nation for the Ethiopian people whoare so heroically defending their country against imperialist aggression andconsid-

ers Ethiopia's fight as part of the fight of all exploited nations for freedom". TheCongress Party also condemned the great powers and the League of Nations fortheir inaction in regard to the Italian-Ethiopian war.Early in the 20th century when Mahatma Gandhi was campaigning against racialdiscrimination in South Africa, he was asked why he was fighting the battle only

of the Indians settled there and not of the African people as a whole and why onlyon the racial issue and not Africa's freedom itself, He replied with greatarticulation. It was not as if he did not sympathise with the plight of Africans, hesaid. They had suffered as much through racial discrimination, indeed, even morefor they were the children of the land and his heartbled forthem, There would beno occasion when hewould not stand four-squarewith them. The campaigns hewasconducting would eventually benefit them as much as the Indians. But he said hewould not presume to lead them. They must throw up their own leaders whowould give them inspiration, guidance and the sinews to wage their struggle. Atthat moment they would find him by their side. So, too, with the large cause ofliberation. The African liberation struggle must be fought bytheAfricansthemselves at a time and place of theirchoosing with strategyand methodsdevisedbythem according to their genius. He could only hope that theywould elect to usenon-violence. When that struggle was launched, India would not be foundwanting.Jawaharlal Nehru's feelings for the African cause touched the core of many aheart. He sought everyoccasion and every forum to fight side by side withtheAfrican nationalists. Way back in 1938 in his presidential address at theConference on Peace and Empire held in London he said that probably no peoplein the world had suffered so much as the Africans. He said: "We think of India,China and other countries, butwe are too often apt to forgetAfricaand the peopleofIndiawantyou to keep them in mind. After all, though the people of India wouldwelcome the help and sympathy of all progressive people, they are today perhapsstrong enough to fight their own battle, whilst that may not be true of some of thepeoples of Africa. Therefore, the people of Africa deserve our special attention".The Asian Relations Conference in New Delhi in 1947 was another occasionchosen by Nehru to give vent to his feelings for Africa he said:We of Asia have a special responsibility to the people of Africa. We must helpthem to their rightful place in the human family, The freedom that we envisage isnot to be confined to this nation or that orto a particular people, but must spreadout over the whole human race, The universal human freedom also cannot bebased on the supremacy of any particular class. It must be the freedom of thecommon man everywhere and full opportunities for him to develop.AsAfrica's liberation strugglewas raising its head and as theAfrican personalitywas emerging from deep slumber, India's Congress Party fighting forthe country'sindependence had become a force to be reckoned with. It used such influence aswas available to encourage theAfrican struggle and for the justice of Africa's right

to freedom. It was only when India became free that the Congress Party couldstrengthen the hands of the Government of India to champion the cause ofAfrica's liberation. It was then that the commendable role of India could bemeasured in reality.At the Afro-Asian Conference in Band rng in 1955 Pandit Nehru returned to hisfavourite theme of ending colonialism in Africa. He said:We have passed resolutions about conditions in this or that country. But I thinkthere is nothing more terrible than the infinite tragedy of Africa in the pastfew

hundred years, Everything else pales into insignificancewhen I thinkofthistragedyever since the days when millions of Africanswere carried away asgalley slaves to America and elsewhere, half of'them dying in the galleys.We must accept responsibility for it, all of us, even though we ourselves were notdirectly involved. But unfortunately, in a different sense, even now the tragedyofAfrica is greaterthan that of any other conti nent, whether it is racial orpolitical.Itisup toAsia to help Africatothe bestof herability becauseweare sister continents.We are determined not to fail. We are determined, In this new phase of Asia andAfrica, to make good, We are determined not to be dominated in anyway byanyothercou ntry orcontine nt. We are determined to bring happiness andprosperity to our people and to discard the age-old shackles th at have tied us notonly politically but economically-the shacklesof colonialism and other shackles of our own making.A fact very little known Is that on India's initiative the South African racistregime was excluded from the Asian-African Conference in Bandung. Adelegation of the African National Congress consisting of Moses Kotane andMaulvi Ismail Caohalia was received asobserver. This gave them an opportunitytomake the acquaintance of a number of Afro-Asian leaders including Nehru whomthey met again during a stopover In Delhi on their way back home.Right from the day of its independence, India under the towering leadership ofNehru began to play the roleof a crusader for peace and freedom. He had personalcontacts with a number of freedom fighters from Africa who were then eitherstudying in London or were based there--Jomo Kenyatta, Kwame Nkrumah,Kenneth Kaunda, Julius Nyerere, Obefemi Owolowo and others. Having closelyfollowed the non-violent struggle for independence successfully waged by Indiaunder Gandhi's guidance, the African leaders needed no persuasion to follow asimilar path in their own countries, On the Indian political strategy Owolowo haswritten: "India is the hero of subject countries. Her struggle for self-government iskeenly and sympathetically watched by the colonial peoples, the more so becausethey are marked by untold sufferings. And Nkrumah is on record as having said:"After months of studying Gandhi's policy and watching the effect it had, Ibelieve.., that when backed by strong political organisation, it could be thesolution of the colonial problem."

In the early years of India's independence, the people and leaders of India watchedwith immense interest political developments in the neighbouring continentofAfrica, While itwas a matter of great satisfaction that the Africans had wokenfrom their deep slumber and the continent was on the move, some developments,were disturbing because of the onslaught of the imperialists, their oppression andtyranny. They were resisting the forces of change. While the colonised people ofGhana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda and larger number of French colonieswere peacefully marching towards independence, there was violent uprising insome African countries.When Qhana becamefreefrom British ruleon March 6,1957, Nehru told theAfrican students in Delhi who had assembled to celebrate the event:

I am happy to be present here. I would have been happier if I could be presenttodayin Accra,the capitalof Ghana. Iwantedto go there very mdch butunfortunatelyelections came in thewayand it became impossiblefor me to leaveIndia. But my mind has been full of this great event which we have come tocelebrate. The independence of any country is a thing to be celebrated andwelcomed butthere issomething more distinctive aboutthe independence of Ghanathan perhaps of some othercountries. It signifies so much for the continent ofAfrica.In Kenya in theearlyfifities, as the Mau Mau freedom fig hterswere unnerving theBritish colonial power,the latter let loose a reign of terror. Killings and massarrests were the order of the day. Jomo Kenyatta, the charismatic leader of theKenyans, was also detained. Nehru was greatly perturbed. Hisgesture in sendingtwo Indian lawyers to Nairobi to defend Kenyatta for his alleged complicity inMau Mau is still remembered by Kenyans, as the gesture was a symbol of Indiansolidarity with the struggling people of Kenya.The Algerian war of freedom is a heroic saga of the valiant people's struggle.While France was meeting its Waterloo in North Africa, the Government of Indiaallowed the National Liberation Front (FLN) to open its office in New Delhi.Apart from giving financial and material help to FLN, India's advocacy ofAlgeria's right for freedom in the United Nations helped to forge Afro-Asian unityon this issue.Afterthe ceasefire agreement had been arrived at between FLN and the FrenchGovernment, Nehru welcomed the settlement and told the Indian Parliament onMarch 12, 1962 that it was an intensive struggle "unparalleled in history",Describing the agreement as a long hoped-for one, Nehru said:I doubt if we can find from the records of history such an intensive struggle as theAlgerian people have lived through during the past seven years and more, suchintense suffering, such a large number of killings and casualties. A substantialportion of the Algerian population had suffered because of this, Surely no one candeny that if a price has to be paid for freedom, the Algerian people have paidmuch more than any price that could have been paid.23

The tripartite aggression, (by Britain, France and Israel) over Egypt followingGamal Abdul Nasser's decision to nationalise the Suez Canal in 1956 foundNehru angry and concerned. Supporting the Nasser government's right to takeover the Suez, Nehru castigated the tripartite attack with considerable vehemence.In the United Nations, Indian delegates took a lead in condemning theattackandasking thethree belligerent nationstowithdrawtheirforces India felt satisfiedonlywhen a UN police force was sent to the Canal zone to enforce a ceasefire andreplace British and French forces,Another African issue that disturbed Nehru a great deal was the cold-bloodedmurder of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba of Congo (Zaire) by the henchmen ofthe Belgian imperialists in 1960. An anguished Nehru warned the imperialists: "Adead Lumumba isfar more powerful than a living Lumumba." Nehru meanttosimply say that martyrs never.die. He perhaps remembered Lumumba's prophetic

words: "You will be heroes but not when you are alive." He asked the UnitedNations to be firm to defend the sovereignty and integrity of the Congo and todefeat the attempts of the imperialists who wanted Katanga to secede.In a memorable address to the UN General Assembly in 1960, Nehru blamed theBelgianswho leftthe Congo in such a sorry state. He spoke of the long years ofcolonial rule resulting ir plundering vast wealth from that country for theenrichment of the colonial power, while the people of the country remainedutterly poor and backward.Demanding the withdrawal of the military and semi-military personnel ofBelgians, the Indian Prime Minister said:Disruptive forces have been let loose and have been encouraged by people whodo not wish this newly independent Congo well. Some footholds of the oldcolonialism are still engaged in working to this end. It is an encouragement to thedisruption of the state. We must realise that it is essential to maintain the integrityof the Congo for if there is disintegration of the state, this is bound to lead tointernal civil wars on a large scale. There will be no peace in the Congo except onthe basis of the integrity of the state. Foreign countries must particularly avoidany interference in the internal affairs or encouragement of one faction againstanother,Nehru was keen on seeing a united Congo and, therefore, at the pressing requestof the UN Secretary-General agreed to send Indian troops to strengthen the handsof the UN. But he put forward three conditions for India's agreement to send itstroops. First, they must function as a unit by themselves and not be mixed withothers, Secondly, they must not come Into conflict with the forces of any UNmember country other than the Belgian mercenaries and thirdly, in no mannermust they be used gainst popular movements in the Congo, Within thisframework India was able to help in the eventual restoration of the independenceand integrity of the Congo and the ultimate creation of conditions to end theagony of the nation, now called Zaire,24

Portuguese ColoniesIndia having seen the worst savagery on Its own soil in Goa, always consideredPortuguese colonialism as the most primitive and uncivilised. Indian leader, keento remove the Portuguese pocket in Goa which they described as an ugly pimpleon thefairface of India, realised after independence that peaceful methods ofnoncooperation and satyagraha would have no effect on the brutal rulers in far-flung Lisbon. When Portuguese troops started firing on peaceful protesters in GoaNehru's patience was exhausted, and he had no option but to order the Indiantroops into Goa in December 1961.The use of force to liberate Goa, even though minimal, was not exactly in keepingwith th.e Gandhian philosophy, butNehru'sgovernment madeitclearthat it handledevery situation on its own merit. The anti-imperialist forces the world over werehappy with Nehru's decision, but the freedom fighters in Africa, particularlyl romthe Portuguese colonies, hailed itas ashot in their arm. India'simage as a championof freedom went up higher in Africa and Indian foreign policy was seen by

Africans at its brightest. Solidarity between india and the liberation movements inAfrica from then on became the order of the day. India, through its action in Goa,had showered its blessings on the armed struggle being waged In many parts ofAfrica.Three months before the liberation of Goa, Prime Minister Nehru inaugurating anInternational Seminar on Portuguese Colonies held In New Delhi affirmed India'sright to military intervention in Goa. India, he said, could not tolerate a foreignbridgehead on India's coast and as aforeign base, Goawas athreatto India'ssecurity. Nehru regretted that India's efforts to persuade the Salazar governmentto settle the Goa question peacefully had borne no fruit. He spoke at length of the"larger complex" of the Portuguese and other colonial structures in the Africancontinent.Paying a tribute to the freedom fighters in Angola and Mozambique, Nehru saidtheirs was a vital struggle against Portuguese colonialism. It was a tragedy thatthey should suffe'r from terrible repressive measures and it was a special tragedythat some big powers should help the Portuguese for cold war reasons. In aforthright assurance of support to the African peoples, he said: "So far as India isconcerned, ourthinking and emotions are with you and in so far as we can help weshall help you in the task of coming out of the morass of colonial domination."The Seminar on Portuguese Colonies was attended by representatives of thefreedom movement in Goa and large number of senior leaders of the Portuguesecolonies in Africa. There were also a number of special invitees, I'ncludingKenneth Kaunda of Zambia. African leaders expressed confidence at.the seminarthat if India and the African leaders worked together for the liberation of theoppressed people the day of their freedom would not be far off,Nehru described the seminar as a unique event which had broughtthe peopleofIndia and Africa together. The two had been close in the past, but in the lastdecade or so, India had taken an intimate interest in the freedom movements inAfrica and,

in some measure, tried to help them in the councils of the world body, he said.The same yearthe Indian Prime Minister took up cudgels against Portugal at theFirst Non-aligned Summit in Belgrade in September 1961. "Angola, the horror ofAngola", pronounced Nehru with passion. He said:I do not know how many of the delegates present here have had occasion to readthe detailed accounts of what has happened in Angola-not only in Angola butround about-which has a kind of horror which one hardly associates with themodern world, massacres, genocide and so on. Of course, our minds go out andwe need not only to sympathise, we want to do what wecan to put an end to this.Itis well to rememberthe odd fact that today the Portuguese empire is the biggestempire-possibly the worst too-that exists in this age of the liquidation ofimperialism and colonialism. It is an odd fact that when great and more powerfulempires have given way very largely, the Portuguese empire should continue, Itis, of course, in a bad way today and in its major territories in Africa like Angola,the situation has been particularly horrible and painful, and probablyeven the past

records of imperialist domination will not give us an example of what ishappening there now. I have no doubt in my mind that in Angola, and certainlyalso in other Portuguese dominions like Mozambique,the Portuguese empire isdoorned. Although we have not on our part been very favourably inclined towardsPortugal during the last many years, what is happening in Angola has been sohorrible that the reaction of whoever has heard of it, whether in this country orinany other country, has been one of extreme anger.Massacres have taken place on a big scale and yet the people of Angola have beenstrugg ling, not without some success, It is not now an easy matter for thePortuguese Government to suppress the Angolan people though it may be a longbusiness. Of course, there is Mozambique, and there are the otherPortuguese territories, which may also be drawn into this conflict.One aspect of these Portuguese colonies, more especially Angola now and Goa alittle time ago, is the indirect help or rather encouragementsometimes help inaddition to encouragement-that Portugal has received from the fact that it is aNATO country. That is a very important fact which, I have no doubt, has made adifferenceto the Portuguese also. But so bad have been the Portuguese activities inAngola recently that many countries, even NATO countries that encouragedPortugal or helped it, have had to desist and express their displeasure. Even theUnited States of America voted against Portugal in the United Nations on thisissue, One NATO country, Norway, has openly and publicly said that itwill notassist directly or indirectlyin anything Portugal does.African nationalist leaders from the former Portuguese colonies rememberwith

admiration that Nehru's voice against the Portuguese atrocities In Africa was loudand clear and was heard with rapt attention. He helped to build up internationalopinion against Portugal, even inside Portugal. While the Organisation of AfricanUnity year after year condemned Portuguese imperialism till its end in 1975, Indiakept the issue alive in the United Nations and in the Non-aligned Movement.An Indian delegate told the UN Trusteeship Committee on November 11, 1963that only a combination of measures, including economic sanctions and pressures,would persuade Portugal to abandon Its colonial policies. Speaking In theCommittee's general debate on Portuguese colonies, he said the Portuguese wereseeking to debase and distort the meaning of the term self-determination, ThePortuguese rulers' claim to a non-racial record was reduced to mockerywhen itwas overlaid by "cultural genocide", he said and went on to condemn the decadentruling elite of Portugal.The Indian delegation and the delegates of the African countries walked out of theUN General Assembly session in December 1964 in protest against a speech bythe Portuguese delegate Bonifacto Miranda. He was sharply critical of India'sMinister of External Affairs, Swaran Singh, who In a speech to the GeneralAssembly made a general indictment of the Portuguese colonialism and racialism.The Portuguese delegate, whose speech amused many Asian and Africandelegates, said:

Another self-styled champion of self-determination of peoples-I now referto therepresentative of the Indian Union-also came to this rostrum and said somethingabout joining others in judging Portugal. His remarks reminded us and must havereminded many others who heard him of the story of the thief who joined thecrowd In shouting for a policeman, Obviously, the Indian representative had alook at the poor record of his own government and felt that he needed company.But I am sure those whom he wishes to join will beashamed of such company.India naturallyearned the ire of the Salazar government because of its exposure ofPortuguese atrocities and because of its courage in deciding to take over Goa byforce. Soon after Goa's liberation, the Portuguese authorities in Mozambiquebegan expelling Indians resident there. There were then 2,394 Indian nationals inMozambique holding Indian passports. In addition, there were 22,000 people ofIndian origin, who for all practical purposes were Portuguese citizens. Nearly 14years after Goa's liberation, Mozambique became independent of PortugueseruleinJune 1975,Thiseventwas greeted bylndia astheculmination of aneraofliberation struggle. Eight months later, when the Minister for ExternalAffairs, Y.B. Chavan announced in Parliamenton February6, 1976 theGovernment's decision to recognise the MPLA government in Angola, theannouncement was greeted with thunderous cheers, Chavan said the MPLAgovernment alone seemed committed to preserve Angola's integrity andindependence and fight South

Africa's armed intervention. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent a message of-greetings and felicitationsto President Agostin ho Neto pledging "our continuingcooperation in the common task of cansolidating the long-standing friendshipbetween the government and peoples of Africa and India and in the continuingstruggle for a just and peaceful world order".Independence of ZimbabweIn the long battle of decolonisation In Africa, the independence of Zimbabwe inApril 1980 was a complicated process. Known as Southern Rhodesia or evenRhodesia before Independence, the presence of a sizablewhite settler communitythere was the major complicating factor. The Rhodesian settlers who believed Inthe superiority of thewhite race, always looked to the ruling white minority inSouth Africa as a model and as a source of inspiration. The apartheid regime wasmore than willing to extend its support and blessings to Rhodesia, a junior partnerin the perpetration of the abominable myth of the superiority of the white race.While India and the Afro-Asian world considered Rhodesia as a non-selfgoverning territory-of Britain, the latter's role was not firm and was in many waysunhelpful. An impression was created by Britain as if it did not mind Rhodesiasurreptitiouslybecoming anotherSouthAfrica,the second citadel of apartheid. Inany case the British colonial administration right from 1930 excluded Africansfrom that half of the country that contained the best farming land, when Africansconstituted over 95 per cent of the population. Turned away from their lands, theAfricans were forced to enter the labour market. In another apartheid-like action,the Industrial Conciliation Act of 1934 banned the African majority from entering

skilled employment, The Africans were left with no option but to work onsubsistence wage on white-owned mines, farms and factories in virtual servitude.At the same time the British rulers in Rhodesia subsidised the growth of whiteagriculture, mining and industry,After the Second World War, the white minority persuaded the British authoritiesto create a Central African Federation, consisting of Southern Rhodesia, NorthernRhodesia (today's Zambia) and Nyasaland (today's Malawi), The scheme was tocombine the large supply of cheap labour in Nyasalnd and the vast mineralresources of Northern Rhodesia with the capital, technological know-how andcoal-supplied power of Southern Rhodesia, at the same time maintainingEuropean dominance.India was strongly opposed to the idea of the Central African Federation evenbefore its formation in 1953 and thereafter too, because it was felt that it was anattempt to perpetuate apartheid and white minority rule. Jawaharlal Nehru onnumerous occasions condemned this new phenomenon which was rearing its headin the Rhodesias as "settler colonialism".India was happy when the Central African Federation was dissolved in 1963paving the way for the independence of Malawi and Zambia on the basis of

majority rule. But Britain was unwilling to decolonise Southern Rhodesia untilsome sort of accommodation could be worked out between the privileged whitesand the deprived blacks. Ian Smith, an extreme right-winger and leader of theRhodesian Front, came to power as Prime Minister, and moved rapidly to curb theactivities of the African nationalists by detaining them in 1964. A referendumshowed overwhelming white support for his pet dream of Unilateral Declarationof Independence. In the general elections in May 1965 Smith's Rhodesian Frontwon all the 50 seats and Smith's government illegally seized power from Britainby declaring U DI on November11,1965. Britain meekly protested but kept itseyes and ears closed and let Smith have his way.All the developments since the break-up of the Central African Federation weredisturbing and the Government of India watched them with disgust. India decidedto withdraw its diplomatic mission with effect from May 7,1965 in an expressionof its strong disapproval of the manner in which the minority settler regime inSouthern Rhodesia was persisting "in the achievement of its illegal objective". Astatement in the Indian Parliament said that India had repeatedly made it knownthat Southern Rhodesia should gain independence without delay on the basis ofthe establishment of a duly constituted democratic government, elected on theprinciple of one-man one-vote. "We consider that the status of Southern Rhodesiaas a non-self governing territory, which has been confirmed in the UN GeneralAssembly resolution on June 28, 1962, remains unchanged," the statement said,A day earlier, Ian Smith said that the Indian decision might spark similar actionby other Afro-Asian governments. He told a crowded and at times violent electioneve meeting in Salisbury that the only reason for India's action was to "gainprestige among Afro-Asian fellow nations". His announcement of India's decisionto close the mission was greeted with cheers by students who had been hecklinghim. There were shouts of "Africa" from the students.

The Indian decision to close the mission was welcomed by the Rhodesian Africannationalists, who had been exerting pressure on India for such a step. WhenAfrican leaders wanted India to withdraw its mission, New Delhi pointed out thatthe mission was accredited to the British Government and not to the illegalRhodesian regime. Observers, therefore, regarded the decision as a token ofIndia's disapproval of British inaction on the Rhodesian issue.From the very start till its end, India regarded the Smith regime as illegal. PrimeMinister Lal Bahadur Shastri described U DI asa "serious development" on theday itwas declared. Shastri told the Congress Parliamentary Partythat UDI wouldpose agreat problem on the African continent. He said: "So far as India isconcerned, we have made it clear that we will not recognise the Smith regime." Aday later, on November 12, 1965, the Minister of External Affairs, Swaran Singhannounced in Parliament that India would recognise any provisional governmentset up by the African people of Rhodesia with the support of the Organisation ofAfrican Unity. He also declared that India was severing economic relations withRhodesia with immediate effect, until a fully representative government of theRhodesian people

was established, It was observed that India was the first country to imposeeconomic sanctions against Rhodesia, just as it did against South Africa yearsearlier.Swaran Singh described the illegal seizure of power by the white-minoritygovernment as an outrageous act which posed a serious threat to intenationalpeace. He strongly criticised the United Kingdom's inept handling of theRhodesian situation inthe past and called upon the British to use forceif necessaryto nullify and checkmate the illegal seizure of power. Outlining the Governmentof India's views on the Rhodesian developments, he said that Britain was legally,constitutionally, politically and morally responsible for the present situation inRhodesia. Britain took no positive steps to prevent the illegal seizure of power bythe white minority, in spite of repeated appeals bythe UN General Assemblytotake all possible measures, including the use of force to forestall UDI,India, the Minister pointed out, would continue to offer its fullest cooperation tothe UN Security Council, the General Assembly and the OAU. India would alsoremain in close touch with friendly governments in Africa and theCommonwealth so that they could all act collectively to meet this serious situationwhich contained "all the elements of racism, reaction, fanaticism, disunity andexploitation of man by man". He said the whiteminorities in Rhodesia, Angola,Mozambique, South Africa and South-West Africa were trying their utmost tokeep the African peoples of these territories in perpetual bondage. The future ofRhodesia was, therefore, an issue of the greatest importance to the whole processof decolonisation in Africa,The UN General Assembly met in an emergency session on the night ofNovember 11 and condemned Rhodesia's illegal seizure of power. The Indiandelegate, Rafiq Zakaria, said that an "extremely grave" situation had developed inRhodesia and asked Britain what was the use of suspending Rhodesian Ministers

when UDI had become a reality. There was still time for Britain to act withcourage and with the unanimous support of the UN, he said.When the leaders of the Commonwealth met in Lagos in March 1966 to takestock of the situation in Rhodesia, the Indian plea was that partial economicsanctions against Rhodesia had not produced the desired result and that there wasneed for a total embargo on all trade. A majority of Commonwealth governmentshad supported this view. The Indian delegation also took the position thatif withinsix to seven months of the UDI, the trade and economic sanctions did not produce any decisive effect, further measu resshould betaken, not excluding the use offorce.India had made it known thatthe difficulties faced by Zambia resulting fromeconomic sanctions against Rhodesia were a matter of concern to it. TheGovernment of India had indicated to Zambia its readiness to render necessaryassistance for its contingency planning, The services of an expert on relief andrehabilitation of refugees had already been provided by India and arrangementshad been made for the supply of steel drums for transportation of petroleumproducts by air.AstheRhodesian rebellion continued, India kept on criticising Britain for not us-

ing force against the Smith regime. Disappointment was also expressed thatbecause of the non-cooperative attitude of certain countries sanctions againstRhodesia as demanded by the UN Security Council had .not worked. India alsokept in touch with the liberation movements, the ZimbabweAfrican NationalUnion and Zimb'abwe African People's Union and on March 12,1970 theGovernment of India gave an assurance In Parliament that India would giveAfrican nations any assistance required, including military support, to liberateRhodesia. This blank cheque promise was widely welcomed in Parliament.In the UN Decolonisation Committee, India raised its voice against UDI inRhodesia year after year. Speaking at a meeting of the committee on October 2,1975 an Indian delegate expressed his country's indignation that Smith in thename of talks with African leaders was trying to break the unity in the nationalistranks. "Should we choose to be mere spectators while Smith proceeds to try andsplit the African National Council?" he asked, "We are convinced that a whitesettler minority of 270,000 persons cannot indefinitely continue to rule overnearly six million black people of Zimbabwe."India watched with interest that in the face of widening war bythe freedomfighters, rising white emigration and collapsing economy, Smith appeared to beyielding. Itwas encouraging that the Commonwealth Summit in Lusaka in August1979 persuaded Britain to act. A demoralised Smith agreed to attend theLancaster House Conference and Tanzania and Zambia persuaded ZANU andZAPU, who founded the Patriotic Front, to attend the London meeting. Despitetheir adoption of a tough negotiating stance, it also emerged that the PatrioticFront leadership was reasonable and was prepared to accept a workablesettlement, Britain passed the Zimbabwe Bill on December 7,1979 by whichZimbabwe was to be granted "fully responsible status as.a republic", and a few

days later Rhodesian members of parliament voted unanimously to revert toBritish colonial rule, 14 years after the UDI.Itwas a matter of gratification that there was a ceasefire in Zimbabwe and in theelections held in February 1980 Robert Mugabe's ZANU won with a comfortablemajority. With a pragmatic Mugabe taking over the reins of an independentZimbabwe two months later, the white settlers accepted the new political situationwith little grace,Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was present in Zimbabwe, when the last Britishcolony in Africa became independent on April 18, 1980. According to all reportsPresident Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and Indira Gandhi received the maximumapplause as they arrived for the independence celebrations. Among the singingand cheering crowds were girls of Indian origin who were performing the garbadance and lighting the arti. India's diplomatic mission, which had been withdrawnat the -time of the UDI in 1965, started functioning again from the date ofindependence.

South Africa And Apartheid"The United Nations began consideration of racism in South Africa in 1946, at therequest of the Government of India." So runs a note introducing a July 1976 UNdocument against apartheid. That note succinctly indicates India's pioneering rolein the world movement against apartheid.India believes with firm conviction that the policy of racial discrimination asinstitutionalised by the Government of South Africa, so as to subjugate the blackpopulation politically and economically for the benefit of the white minority, isrepugnant to the conscience of mankind, violates the provisions of the UniversalDeclaration of H uman Rights and is contrary to the principles and purposes of theCharter of the United Nations. India's struggle against apartheid is, therefore, anintegral partof the wider struggle of the people of theworld against all formsofoppiession, domination, exploitation and discrimination.India's abhorrence of apartheid had been given expression to even before thestruggle for national independence. The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi,had many unpleasant brushes with racism during his sojourn in South Africa andthis was later a factor in his resolve to uproot imperialism from India.After being called to the Bar from the Inner Temple, Mahatma Gandhi hadoccasion to go to South Africa for a lawsuit. There he was broughtfaceto facewith the repulsivevirulence of racism.A week after arriving in Durban in May1883, Gandhi visited thecourtwherethe magistrate insisted that he doff his turban.Mahatma Gandhi was later attacked and thrown out of a railway carriage reservedfor the whites at Maritzburg in South Africa; at Pardeburg a white policeman beathim up forwalking on a footpath reserved forthe whites; at Durban, a white mobscreamed for his blood outside an official's house where he had been put up, andwere it not for his chance escape, the mob would have lynched him; and atJohannesburg a white official beat him nearly to death.Gandhi soon started the first campaign of his life against racism in South Africa,He tried there, for the first time, passive resistance, a movement he latersuccessfully employed in India's struggle for independence. The government in

Transvaal had at thattime introduced a European-language test, which sought toexclude a number of Asians who wanted to enterTransvaal for the first time. Ithad also resurrected an old law which required a record of fingerprints as part ofthe procedure of registration of Asians, This legislation became the occasion, in1908, for Gandhi's first campaign for passive resistance. The Asians in SouthAfrica felt that the taking of fingerprints implied a criminal status, Large numbersof them went to jail for deliberate breaches of the immigration law, and muchsympathy was aroused for their cause both in India and in the United Kingdom.The Transvaal government eventually agreed to enact a law which would beapplicable to all immigrants, and to make at the same time administrativeregulations which would permit the entry each year of a limited number ofeducated Asians,

Mahatma Gandhi's second and more intensified campaign of civildisobediencewas in 1913, when the new Union Government in South Africaenacted a General Immigration Act which laid additional restrictions on Asianimmigrants and also curtailed the movements of Indians in that country. Thelarge-scale breaches of the immigration restrictions which ensued resulted innumerous convictions of Asians, and strong feelings were aroused in India bytheir alleged ill-treatment under detention. The campaign of passive resistancewas called off in 1914t when an agreement was reached between General Smuts,then Prime Minister, and Gandhi, as the resultof which all furtherimmigration ofIndiansto South Africa was to be stopped and the £3 tax imposed on Asians wasto be withdrawn.The struggle against racism being so intimately linked with the struggle for India'sindependence, it was but natural that India should later have led the war againstracism in South Africa. Writing in March 1946, Gandhi said thatthe course ofevents had raised to a higher level the q uestion of the policy of the South AfricanGovernment. This policy held the seeds of world war, he said.At the governmental level, India tried to persuade the South African Governmentto put an end to its racial policy. Failing in thisendeavour, the GovernmentofIndia, In 1946, severed trade connections with South Africa and withdrew itsHigh Commissioner from that country. This was before any other country hadeven considered racism an issue deserving to be protested against, The break-offin trade relations meant to India a considerable sacrifice, South Africa at that timeaccou nted forfive per cent of its total exports. Besides, the decision was taken ata timewhen asan emergentindependent nation, India needed all the resources atitscommand, especially foreign exchange to reactivate its economy, which had tillthen been dominated by the colonial rulers,Jawaharlal Nehru, who had just then become leader of the "Interim Govern ment",said in his first broadcast after assuming office in September 1946: "If this racialdoctrineis going to betolerated, it mustinevitably lead to vastconflicts and worlddisaster."In October that year the UN General Assembly was convened for the first time,Here India introduced the issue o1 the unjust treatment of Indians in South Africa.

Addressing the Assembly, the leader of the Indian delegation, VijayalakshmiPandit, said:ThewaythisAssemblytreats and disposes of this issue is open to the gaze, not onlyof those gathered here, but millions in the world, the progressive peoples of allcountries-more particularly non-European peoples of the worldwho are anoverwhelming section of the human race.The issue we have brought before you is by no means a narrow or local one, norcan we accept anycontention that a gross and continuing outrage of this kindagainstthefundamental principles of the Charter can beclaimed by anyone, andleastof all by a member-state, to be a matter of no concern to thisAssembly of theworld's peoples.

The bitter memories of racial doctrines in the practice of states and govern mentsare still fresh in the minds of all of us. Their evil and tragic consequences are partof the problems with which we are called upon to deal.India firmly believes that imperialism, political, economic or social, in whateverpart of the world it mayexist and bywhosoever it may be established andperpetuated, is totally inconsistent with the objects and purposes of theUnited Nations and of its Charter.During that session the General Assembly, on India's insistence, passed aresolution declaring that 'it is in the higher interests of humanity to put animmediate end to racial persecution and discrimination."it is seen that India took up the issue of racial discrimination because people ofIndian origin were being discriminated against in South Africa. Butsoon it becameIndia's concern for all non-white races with the South African Governmentadopting,through the Group Areas Act of 1950, racial discrimination as an officialpolicy, separating communities on the basis of race and denying them equal rightsand privileges. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, speaking in a foreign policydebate in Parliament on December 6, said that whether It took a month or a yearor more, India would never submit "to any racialism in any part of the world",The same year the United Nations adopted a resolution requesting the SouthAfrican Government to stay enforcement of the Group Areas Act.South Africa, however, paid no heed to the UN resolution, a practice it was tofollowco nsiste ntly with regard to the world body, the racist regime kept insistingthat it regarded the matter as being outside the competence of the United Nations.In 1952 India, along with 12 other member-states of the United Nations, raisedthe general question of "race conflict in South Africa resulting from the policiesof apartheid of the Government of the Union of South Africa", At the instance ofthe Afro-Asian group, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution providingfor the appointment of a Commission to study the racial situation in South Africa.The report of this Commission condemned the racist policies of South Africa andthus demonstrated that South Africa could not take shelter underthe excusethat itwas a matter of domestic jurisdiction and not of international concern,It must be noted that during this period the United Nations was a small body.Many of the African nations, who as members of the august body now raise theirvoice in protest against South Africa's racist policies, could not be heard then, as,

not being independent, they could bot be UN members. And the western powers,which dominated the world body, stood bythe racist policies of the South Africanregime, because of their heavy economic and political stakes in the richestcountry south of the Sahara. India, thuswasone of the fewAfro-Asiancountrieswhich advanced the relentless struggle against apartheid in the UnitedNations.On the question of discrimination against the people of Indian origin, whichcontinued to figure in the agenda of the United Nations, despite the adoption ofresolutions by that organisation that India, Pakistan and South Africa should

negotiate on the subject, no agreement could be reached, because of the non-cooperative attitude of the Government of South Africa.Between 1946 and 1962, the UN General Assembly passed 26 resolutions againstthe racial policies of South Africa. A resolution on the subject was also passed bythe Security Council in April 1960. In the discussions held on the resolutions, therepresentatives of India repeatedly focussed attention on the fact that apartheidwas contrary to the principles of the UN Charter, contrary to the sense of humandignityand aviolation of the rule of law and of the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights.The sleeping world was jolted Into an awakening on March 21 1960, when theSouth African police opened fire on a crowd of African people at Sharpeville nearJohannesburg. The demonstrators were protesting peacefully against the racistpasslawswhen the policefired upon them, killing 69and wounding 178. Bloodwasalso shed in Cape Town and elsewhere.The reaction In Indiawas one of shock, horror, angerand grief. A publicmeetingwas convened in New Delhi to mourn the Sharpeyille victims, Nehru, whoaddressed the meeting, compared the outrageto theJallianwala Bagh tragedy inpre-independence India, in which the British soldiers massacred a peacefulgathering of citizens. The Indian parliament passed a resolution deploring themassacre and extended its sympathy to those who had suffered as a result of thisoutrage, and were suffering due to racial discrimination in their own homeland.Until then, the Commonwealth did not consider domestic or bilateral issuesat itsvarious conferences. South Africa also was a memberof this multi-racial body.But after Sharpeville, there was strong resentment In India and otherAfricanmembercountries of the Commonwealth against South Africa's racist policies. Atthe Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference held in May 1960, India raisedthe question of discrimination in South Africa. Nehru said: "I don't think it ispossiblefor any country to follow a racial policy like that. It just cannot betolerated," At the Commonwealth Conference in 1961, the Indian Prime Ministerpointed out thatthe "main thing is that in South Africa this is the official policy;itis notthe failure of an official policy, The apartheid policy of suppression,separation and segregation is the officially declared policy of the governmentthere.... It became a question, practically speaking, of whether a number of othercountries should continue in the Commonwealth," The growing criticism of SouthAfrica's racist policies finally forced that govenment to quit the Commonwealth.

The numerous requests, recommendations, admonitions and condemnations bythe United Nations, meanwhile, failed to deter the South African Governmentfrom its setcourseof racism.And so in 1962, a resolution was moved by34memberstates, Including India, deploring the failure of the South AfricanGovernment to comply with UN resolutions, The assembly passed a resolution,requesting member-states to take certain diplomatic and economic steps againstthe Government of South Africa, to goad it into abandoning its racial policies,India had recalled its High Commissioner from South Africa in 1946. The Indianmission

was withdrawn in 1954. Until the latest UN resolution India maintained somecontact with Pretoria through its mission in London mainlyto implement thevarious UN resolutions urging negotiations between the two countries on thequestion of treatment of persons of Indian origin in South Africa. In compliancewith the provisions of the latest resolution, India broke off even this diplomaticcontact.The Government of India also instructed the authorities concerned not to allowvesselsflying the South African flag totouch Indian seaports and to prohibit Indianships from going to South African ports. The general ban on trade with SouthAfrica, which was in existence since 1946 and had been extended to coverSouthWestAfrica since 1953 had allowed some itemsof cultural and religiousinterestto be sent through postal and other channels, Restrictions were now placedon even sending such literature bylimiting itto asmall numberof specifiedcategories, Further, the Government of India informed the International CivilAviation Organisation that it would not allow aircraft registered in South Africa toland at Indian airports or to overfly India.In New York, India played a leading role in the formation of the SpecialCommittee against Apartheid set up by the General Assembly in 1963 and alsomade contributions to the United Nations Trust Fund formed in 1965, The TrustFund was to provide legal assistance to persons prosecuted under discriminatorylegislation, to provide relief to such persons and their dependents and to refugeesfrom South Africa, When the United Nations in 1965 adopted a Convention onthe Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, India became a signatoryto that Convention, The Convention laid stress on the dignity and equality of allhuman beings and the parties to the Convention were to undertake and pursue byall appropriate means a policy of eliminating racial discrimination in all its forms,India also allowed, in 1967, theAfrican National Congress to establish an Asianmission in New Delhi and began to extend financial and other help to thisliberation movement.In 1970, when the General Assembly decided to observe 1971 as the internationalyear for action against racial discrimination, India, through various publicitymedia, carried out a comprehensive programme to draw attention to the evils ofapartheid and the need to combat it by all possible means, In 1972, theGeneralAssembly resolved thatapartheid constituted a total negation of theprinciples of the UN Charter and was a "crime against humanity". In recognitionof the need for the suppression of apartheid, it adopted the International

Convention on the Supression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid inNovember 1973. India soon formally acceded to this Convention.Along with the adoption of the Convention, the Assembly also adopted aresolution in 1973 on "A Decade of Action to Combat Racism and RacialDiscrimination". Among otherthingsit provided for the holding ofa conference "tocombat racism and racial discrimination", for reviewing the steps already taken inthat direction and to'consider future steps. At the World Conference againstRacism held in Geneva in August 1978, India called for firm and decisivemeasures

under the UN Charter in order to force South Africa to seethe path of sanity, andadvocated mandatory measures including sanctions against export of oil,investment of capital, and the revocation of existing licences for the manufactureof arms in order to make more effective an arms embargo against that country.Other landmarks in the struggle against apartheid in the United Nations in whichIndia along with some other countries took a leading part may be summed uphere:1965: TheGeneralAssemblyforthe firsttimecalled upontheSecurityCounclltotake action under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to tackle the problem ofapartheid.1967: The General Assembly condemned apartheid as a crime againsthumanity.1968: The General Assembly recognised the right of the people of South Africato self-determination and to majority rule on the basis of universalsuffrage.1970: The General Assembly accepted the right of the people in South Africa toend apartheid "by all means at their disposal", which included armed struggle.The racist regime of South Africa was declared illegitimatewhich had no right to represent the people of South Africa.1977: The Security Council adopted a resolution on a mandatory armsembargo against South Africa,India had been opposed to the South African policy of introducing racism insports and had always protested against racist South Africa participating in sportsevents, on the grounds that the Pretoria regime was hindering black sports talentfrom coming up while giving the best attention possible to boosting the sportstalent of the whites, who constitute barely 20 per cent of South Africa'spopulation, Along with other countries, India had been instrumental in oustingracist South Africa from world sports events like the Olympics, with the threatthatit would nottake part in any event where South Africa was represented.A test of India's sincerity in the anti-apartheid campaign came unexpectadly inlate 1974 during the Davis Cup tennis matches. For the first time in the 74-yearhistory of the Davis Cup India had a chance of carrying away the coveted trophy.Its tennis stars Vijay Amritraj and Anand Amritraj had taken India to the finalsagainst South Africa, and the odds seemed to be very much in favour of theAmritraj brothers. However, India refused to play racist South Africa and the cup

went to Pretoria bydefault. The very nextyear India saw to it thatSouth Africawasexpelled from the Davis Cup tournament.It was another show of its solidarity with the African countries, when Indiadecided to boycott the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. India came tothe conclusion that there was no point in taking part in the Games in the light ofBritain dontinuing to oppose the idea of imposing sanctions against South Africa.India feels hurt that Britain is not prepared to implement even the minimummeasures which it had accepted at the Commonwealth Summit in Nassau.

The Government of India has consistently advised the people of Indian origin toidentify themselves with the urges and aspirations of the peoples of the countriesof their adoption, and to integrate themselves with the mainstream of thosesocieties, On numerous occasions, Gandhi and Nehru reminded Indians abroad oftheir basic responsibilities towards their fellow citizens and warned them toexpect no sympathy or understanding from India if they displayed racialarrogance, exclusiveness and bigotry or isolated themselves from the majority'saspirations. It is a matterof great salisfaction to New Delhi that Indians in SouthAfrica have made common cause with other non-whites in their fight againstracial discrimination. Many of the more notable freedom fighters in South Africaare of Indian origin, among them the late G.M. Naicker and Yusuf Dadoo, AhmedKathrada, Billy Nair and Shanti Naidoo.India was strongly opposed to the "constitutional sham" of a tri-camarelparliament, which gives democratic rights to the whites, "coloureds" and Indians,but denies such rights to the majority African population, the indigenousinhabitants of South Africa, It was because of Indira Gandhi's appeal to non-whitevoters to boycott such an unrepresentative constitution that came into f6rce onSeptember 3,1984, that the Botha regime could get only a minimal support fromabout one million Indians and three million "coloureds". The Government of Indiahas now come out with an executive order that those South African Indians, whocontested the elections and who are known henchmen of the apartheid system,will not be allowed entry into India,India was greatly perturbed when early in 1986 African hooligans, who were thehirelingsof the Pretoria regime, attacked Indian homes and Iroperty, including thePhoenix Ashram in Durban. It was sought to be conveyed that relations betweenAfricans and Indians were unfriendly and that a stage had come when indianswould become unwelcome in South Africa. Later it emerged clearly that all therioting had been engineered by the apartheid regime to break non-white unity.Speaking about this attempt at the anachronistic divide-and-rule policy, the PrimeMinister of India, Rajiv Gandhi said in Parliament: "The manoeuvres of the SouthAfrican regime must not be allowed to sow discord among the African and Asianpopulation. This is thetimewhen all the non-white people of South Africa andeven those sections among the whites who oppose apartheid should close theirranks 'and fight unitedly and vanquish the racist policies, The people of India willbe with hem." The South African regime's attempts to sow dissension among Its)pponents came up for serious discussion in the Indian Parliament, Both Houses,ondemned thevioience against the people of Indian origin in Durban and the

de,truction of the institution associated with Mahatma Gandhi. The IndianMembers )f Parliameritwere convinced thatthe anti-I ndian riots were instigatedby the racist egime.The countries concerned with eliminating apartheid have not been slow inippreciating India's pioneering role in this campaign. On October 5,1976, the UNommittee againstApartheid was convened in NewYork specially to pay tribute to

India. Spokesmen from African, Asian, Latin American and the socialist countriespraised India for the role it had played, beginning 30yers ago. It was the first timethat the Committee, during the 12 years of its existence, had honoured amemberstate.Speaking at the session, Ambassador Leslie 0. Harriman of Nigeria and Chairmanof the Special Committee, said:We in this Special Committee owe particular appreciation to India for itsconsistent cooperation. When this Committee began its work on April 2,1963, thevery first document before it was a letter from India offering full cooperation.When this Committee appealed in 1964 for assistance to political prisoners andtheir families in South Africa, the very first contribution came from India.Wefound a response from India forevery requestwe made inthe cause of the liberation of South Africa,Frank E, Boaten of Ghana, speaking on behalf of the members from Africancountries, said:The isolation of the racist regime of South Africa owes its origins, to a largeextent, to the sacrifice made by the Government and people of India.., Unlike themajority of the European developed countries, which made pious statement ofabhorrence of the apartheid system but continue to encourage the racist regime byeconomic and militarycollaboration, India took the extreme step by breakingdiplomatic relations with that regime in complete disregard of the huge loss ofrevenue.., India took the leading role in assailing South Africa's institutionalisedracism of apartheid, before independent black African states became members ofthe United Nations, It was through such efforts that the international communityawakened for the first time to the reprehensible implications of the system... Butfor India's exemplary initiative, wewould not have had such a strong foundationuponwhichto build asuperstructure from which we have continually launched ourpersistent attacks onracism, racial discrimination and apartheid.Carlos T. Alzamore (Peru), speaking on behalf of the members from LatinAmerican countries, said that India's example had inspired the leaders of the thirdworld and would continue to be an incentive until the common goal wasachieved-the total elimination of apartheid. The other representatives spoke in asimilar vein.The praise is incidental, For India's campaign has not been for the limelight, butfrom a genuine conviction that apartheid is an intolerable affront to man'sconscience. As India said in an anti-apartheid document:We have waged this battle, not to win international plaudits, but because we

genuinely feel that as long as apartheid and racism remain meshed in the fabric ofsociety, progress would remain a hollow concept. Moreover, in fighting this evil,we give substance to our most cherished values and in doing so, pay homage tothe ideals of the Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. We are firmly convincedthat in a world where progress and humanitarianism have become the touchstoneof human development, we carhnot allow suchregressive and inhuman practices to continue.India's support to the freedom struggle in South Africa is unequivocal, so is itssupport to those like Nelson Mandela, who are braving the, tyranny of theoppressive rulers. In fact India's admiration for Mandela who was given theJawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding, goes back to manyyears. As Indira Gandhi told the African Students Association in India on January11, 1982: "We regard Nelson Mandela as one of the foremost proponents offreedom-freedom of man. We regard him also as a friend of India. We admirehim. We have honoured him as one of our own heroes and ourthoughts are oftenwith him and his family."Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on July 18, 1986 greeted Mandela on his 68thbirthday, which he celebrated in the Pollsmoor prison near Cape Town. In amessage to Win nie Mandela, wife of the jailed nationalist leader, he said: "To thepeople of India and to the entire civilised world Nelson Mandela is a symbol offree human spirit. We salute the indomitable fortitude with which Mr Mandelahas b.orne his personal tribulations during his long incarceration in pursuance ofhuman rights and a majority government in South Africa." On the occasion ofMandela's birthday, RajivGandhi and hiswife witnessed a colourful programme ofAfrican songs and dances by students studying in Delhi.Today Rajiv Gandhi is following the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi, JawaharlalNehru and Indira Gandhi in trying to dismantle apartheid. He rightly feels thatapartheid is the root cause of all the problems in Southern Africa. For thedemolition of apartheid and ushering in genuine majority rule will not only bringabout peace in and around South Africa but the decolonisation of Namibia wouldbe possible without delay. His passionate talk of an immediate end to apartheidsounds like awar cry. Now-or-never seems to be histhemeof abolishing thisabominable practice. His impatience on the issue isvisible. He spares no platformwhere he does not condemn the Pretoria regime and its western supporters.Last year the battle drums against apartheid were sounded by Rajiv Gandhi inLondon, Nassau and New York. He is more than convinced that only mandatoryand comprehensive economic sanctions against South Africa will bring it to itsknees. It is good that he chose the Commonwealth Summit in Nassau in October1985 as a forum to bring pressure on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to agreeto economic measures against Pretoria.TheCommonwealth Eminent Persons Group, inwhich India was represented byformer Foreign Minister Swaran Singh, was appointed under the Nassau Accord

to promote a processof dialogue for ending apartheid and establishing a genuinenon-racial democracy in South Africa. The EPG worked against a background ofmounting turmoil within the country and increased calls for sanctions. Although

the EPG report has presented a pessimistic scenario, India Is certain that theCommonwealth can produce positive results in dismantling apartheid, as itdid indefusing the Rhodesian imbroglio after its Lusaka Summit in 1979.New Delhi is not at all impressed with the British argument that sanctions againstSouth Africa will hurt the neighbouring states and hence should not be applied.Nor does it see merit in Washington's plea that sanctions are inimical to peacefulchange in South Africa. India feels that even if sanctions do hurt some countriesotherthan South Africa, they are well worth the additional cost and sacrifice ifthey would accelerate the ending of apartheid. India asks those who are concernedabout the negative effects of sanctions to provide assistance to minimise theimpact. The Indian Prime Minister's suggestion during his recent visit toMauritius of a Commonwealth economic package to offset the losses suffered bysome countriesas a result olthe imposition of sanctions against South Africaisworthyof serious consideration.British Prime Minister, Mrs Margaret Thatcher has lived up to her reputation as aprotector of apartheid when at the mini-Commonwealth summit early in August1986 she refused to go along with the other six-India, Zambia, Zimbabwe,Bahamas, Canada and Australia on the question of sanctions against South Africa.While New Delhi is unhappy that she has backtracked even on the Nassau accord,RajivGandhi's role in keeping the six united and to make a common cause onadditional measures of economic sanctions has been favourably commented upon.His suggestion of a machinery to monitor the application of sanctions has beenaccepted in principle.India is, however, satisfied that the Commonwealth has survived. Its Minister ofState for External Affairs Eduardo Faleiro in fact told the Indian Parliament thatthe Commonwealth had emerged a stronger organisation after the mini-summit.After a lively discussion, both Houses of Parliament passed a resolutioncondemning apartheid, calling upon the international community to ensure itsbeing dismantled and demanding the release of Nelson Mandela and othe1'freedom fighters.It is sad that a short-sighted and arrogant South Africa is not seeing the writing onthe wall and is refusing to look atthe dangers ahead, when the people are in arevolutionary mood. The proclamation of emergency is no answer and, therefore,RajivGandhi in a message to the people of SouthAfrica oh the tenth anniversaryof the Soweto uprising rightly said that the emergency was a grim reminder thatthe policies of the Pretoria regime had not changed. He said: "We demand an endto racism and the immediate'and unconditional release of Nelson Mandela. I amconfident that ourcommon struggle will triumph and the peopleof South Africawill live in freedom."The Indian Prime Minister also sent a message to the World Conference onSanctions against South Africa held in Paris in June 1986. He urged the

international community to launch "concrete and immediate action" against SouthAfrica. The message was read out by India's Minister of State for External AffairsEduardo Faleiro at the opening session of the conference convened by the UNSpecial Committee Against Apartheid. He said: "The time for verbal

condemnation is over, There should not and cannot be any encouragement toefforts for the so-called reform of the evil system of apartheid. It has to be totallyuprooted and destroyed."Apartfrom its help to build up international public opinion against racism and itseffort to raise the morale of the struggling masses of South Africa, India's directsupport to the liberation struggle has been in the form of moral and materialsupport to the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC) of SouthAfrica, A number of scholarships have beeri offered to South African students onthe recommendation of the ANC.India has also been contributing to the various UN funds for assistance to thevictims of apartheid, to the Solidarity Fund of the Non-aligned Movement forSupport to the African Liberation Movements, to the OAU Assistance Fund forStruggle against Colonialism and Racialism and to the International Defence andAid Fund for Southern Africa.The question of apartheid and South Africa's aggressive policies have beendiscussed at the various Non-aligned Summits beginning with Belgrade in 1961.Various successive summits have condemned racism and South Africanintransigence, which results from the support it enjoys from its western friendsand allies,At the Seventh Summit of the Non-aligned Movement in March 1983 in NewDelhi, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi termed the Non-aligned Movement as"history's biggest peace movement", Inaugurating the summit she said Israel"feels free to commit any outrage...." and added: "The other notorious outlaw isthe South African regime, which defies the international familywith impunity. Ithas been rightlyobserved that the very existence of the Government of Pretoria,which institutionalised racism, negates the oneness of the human race andcommits aggression against its own people and those of Namibia and otherneigbours, is an affront."Indira Gandhi, in her capacity as the chairperson of the Non-aligned Movement,played a key role in the drafting of the final communique issued at the end of theNew Delhi Summit, It strongly condemned Pretoria for its systematic andbarbarous acts of oppression and discrimination against the overwhelmingmajority of the population and noted with great concern the increased acts ofmilitary, political and economic destabilisation perpetrated by the South Africanracist regime against the independent neighbouring states. The summit noted withindignation the Introduction by the Pretoria regime of so-called constitutionalreformsand unreservedlycondemned that act "asyet anotherdevice to dividetheoppressed people of South Africa and consolidate and perpetuate apartheid andwhite-minority rule".Significantly, the New Delhi Non-aligned Summit condemned the US policy of

"constructive engagement" which is aimed at countering the international.campaign for the total isolation of apartheid South Africa. Deep concern wasexpressed about persistent reports of the attempts by some Latin Americancountries to form a so-called South 'Atlantic Treaty Organisation (SATO) inconjunction with the racist regime of South Africa, "The persistent efforts of the

apartheid regime to acquire a nuclearweapon arsenal wereyetanother indication ofits determination to maintain its dominance", the summit said.Today India sees South Africa as a strong entity with a capacity for mischief likeIsrael, but in a vulnerable position, becausethe country is in a revolutionary mood,The activities of the United Democratic Front and the ANC's striking capacityhave so unnerved the Botha regime that it has to take shelter amidst emergencylaws, Strikers in their millions are determined and they have killed the economy.The country is becoming unmanageable.The situation in South Africa is almost similar to the one that obtained inRhodesia in 1979 when Smith had no alternative butto yield. As in the case ofRhodesia, the Commonwealth may be called upon to play a major role in defusingthe South Africa situatiton. The Commonwealth can force Britain to go alongwith It on the question of sanctions and with such a threat of sanctions Britain canput pressure on South Africa to give up. Such a scenario mray take some time tobe noticed, but it is very much in the realm of possibility. The sequence of eventsmay not be as fast as was in the case of Rhodesia in 1979, but the time is not farwhen Botha may agree to release Nelson Mandela for negotiations with him andthe rest of the ANC leadership. Majority rule on non-racial lines could'be the nextstep. Discrimination on the basis of colour will disappear. This is what India andother freedom-loving countries are waiting for and have been fighting for,As the struggle for liberation in South Africa is nearing its end and as one isbeginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel, one remembers IndiraGandhi's prophetic words: "The embers of colonialism and racialism might appearto glow inthewind of change. But these are dying embers. In cooperation withothercountriesweshould continueto make all possible efforts to wipe outtheseremnants of a shameful past,"It is not for nothing that a medal in honour of Nelson Mandela was presented toPrime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on October 22, 1985 by the Chairman of the UNSpecial Committee against Apartheid, Joseph Garbaof Nigeria. The medal hasbeen produced by the Holland Committee on Southern Africa. He was alsopresented with a book entitled Art Against Apartheid produced by Artists of theWorld against Apartheid.South Africa compounds the guilt of apartheid by its illegal occupation ofNamibia and aggression on Its neighbours. As Rajiv Gandhi has pointed out in hisaddress on the observance of Africa Liberation Day in New Delhi on May25,1986: "The evil from Pretoria looms over Southern Africa, Apartheid in SouthAfrica underpin colonialism in Namibia, the occupation of parts of Angola,subversion in Mozambique, the overt and covert destabilisation of all the frontlinestates."

But he is confident that like the rest of Africa, Southern Africa will see peace,stability and progress. He has a lot of faith in the ability of the people and theirurges and aspirations to overcome all odds, He told the Africa Day meeting: ",.,..Ihave just returned from a journey through the frontline states where I had gone toexpress our solidarity with them. We were enthused by the vibrant vitality of thepeople, impressed with their determination to consolidate their nationhood, impart

fresh vigour to their culture, restructure and develop their economies. The oddsthey have to contend with would daunt any people of lesser cheer or weaker will."NamibiaAlong with the struggle for the elimination of racial discrimination, India hasgiven its unflinching support to the decolonisation of Namibia at all forums,especially at the United Nations and in the Non-aligned Movement. When afterthe Second World War, the Namibian independence issue got an internationaloutlook, India backed the plea that the mandate system had given way totrusteeship and that South Africa must understand that the UN General Assemblywas the organ legally qualified to exercise those functions previously entrusted tothe Council of the League of Nations. India welcomed the decision of theInternational Court of Justice to this effect, When in 1966 the UN GeneralAssembly decided finally to terminate South Africa's mandate over the Namibianterritory and when it became a direct responsibility of the United Nations, theGovernment of India welcomed the development calling it a "unique, historic andsacred" responsibility.Sincethen India hasconsidered South Africa's occupation of theterritoryas illegaland has worked ceaselessly to wrest the territory from Pretoria's stranglehold. TheUN Council for Namibia is the legal administering authority and India never hadany doubt that SWAPO is the "sole and authentic" representative of the people ofNamibia, whose armed struggle always had New Delhi's blessings and materialsupport.In 1978 when the UN Security Council Resolution 435 took final shape, manypeople were happythat finally a plan for a negotiated settlement of Namibianindependence had been worked out within a framework acceptable to theNamibian people, the international community and South Africa. But thefreedom-loving world was in for many a shock when South Africa started itsdelaying tactics by coming outwith objections and reservations on the electoralsystem, on the size of the UN Transition Group, on the demilitarised zone and onthe role of the internal parties, the puppets of Pretoria. When, however, SouthAfrica came out with an extraneous and irrelevant issue of the withdrawal ofCuban troop from Angola as a precondition for the independence of Namibia,India not only lost its faith in the honesty and sincerity.of the Pretoria regime bulalso in the integrity of the five-nation Western Contact Group, which had helpedto bring about the UN plan on Namibia.South Africa's continuing illegal occupation of Namibia is thus seen by India as

a challengeto the authorityof the UN, which has direct responsibility overNamibia until its independence, Its stalling tactics, which have delayed theindependence of the territory for eight long years, are designed to buy time so thatit can further frustrate the possibility of SWAPO dominating the politics of thenew state. Washington's open support to South Africa on the Namibian imbrogliois seen by New Delhi as a factor which hardens Pretoria's attitude.Speedy implementation of UN Resolution 435 without any precondition andreservation has been India's consistent stand. In a message to the UN-sponsored

Conference on Namibia held in Paris in April 1983, Prime Minister Indira Gandhisaid:Of late attempts have been made to lin k Namibia's independence with variousextraneous and unrelated issues. The Conference should reaffirm that the right ofthe Namibian people to independence like that of any other country in the world isabsolute and unfettered by irrelevant considerations. The Conference should urgethe UN Security Council to act immediately to implement the plan for theindependence of Namibia contained in its Resolution 435, and to imposecomprehensive mandatory sanctions againstSouth Africa if it persists in defying the Security Council resolution,Expressing India's solidarity with the people of Namibia, she said: "India'ssolidarity with and the support for the brave people of Namibia under theleadership of the South-West African Peopple's Organisation, is a matter ofrecord. I reiterate the pledge of the Government and the people of India tocontinue to support the freedom struggle of the Namibian people."Atthe New.Delhi Non-aligned Summit Indira Gandhi referred to South Africa as a'notorious outlaw" but Rajiv Gandhi spoke with anger, passion, and also withsincerity, atthe Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting of the Non-alignedMovementon Namibia held in New Delhi in April 1985. He condemned SouthAfrica's latest decision to set up a puppet "internal government" at Windhoek toperpetuate its illegal occupation of Namibia. Considering that this was an attemptto fabricate possibilities of unilateral declaration of independence, he said: "Wemust not let it pass,"The non-aligned ministerial meeting declared a virtual war of independence forNamibia and pledged to increase military assistance to SWAPO and otherfrontline states in their armed struggle against the racist regime. Severance ofdiplomatic relations, imposition of oil embargo, pullout of and ban oninvestments, denial of facilities for South African aircraftand ships, and sports andcultural boycott were other elemeRts of a positive strategy the non-alignedadopted to secure Namibia's independence, The western powers were asked todisplay the ''necessary political will". The New Delhi declaration was seen bydiplomatic observers as the most militant reaction yet by the Non-alignedMovement to the situation in Namibia.

The Indian Prime Minister, paying tribute to SWAPO, said that for 25years it hadspearheaded the struggle of the Namibian people under the inspiring leadership ofSam Nujoma. He then made a splendid gesture, announcing India's decision toaccord full diplomatic recognition to SWAPO. Nujoma raised his arms in joytoreciprocate the Indian decision, which was also hailed with loud applause by thenon-alig ned foreign ministers assembled in New Delhi. India, the currentchairman of the Non-aligned Movement, isthe first country to accord diplomaticrecognition to SWAPO, which was, indeed, a short in the arm forthe latter.SWAPO viewed it as a "profound source of inspiration".Sam Nujoma paid an official visit to India in May 1986 when he was accordedhonoursdueto a Head of State. He formally opened the chancery premises of theEmbassy of Namibia in New Delhi. He joined Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on

the occasion of Africa Day (May25) in calling upon governments across the worldto join in the struggle against colonialism, racism and apartheid. Recalling India'sservice to the independence of Namibia, he said that India took the initiative toabort the fraudulent attempts of General Smuts and his henchmen to annexNamibia into South Africa. "Since then India hasbeen second to none in supportof the struggles in South Africa and Namibia. We thank you for everything youhave done for us, Please keep it up. Forour part we will not betray ourtrust butwill continue to intensify the struggle on all fronts, until final victory", he said.The opening of the Namibian Embassy in New D&1hi wasa unique event in itsheroic liberation struggle. It. marked the setting up of the first diplomatic missionrepresenting the heroic people of Namibia and symbolising their determinationunder the leadership of SWAPO to end the oppressive, colonial and racist regime.New Delhi has, according to observers, become a vitally important centre for thefinal assault on South African colonialists.In a message to the UN-sponsored International Conference on ImmediateIndependence for Namibia, which opened in Vienna on July 7, 1986, RajivGandhi asked the international community to demonstrate the "political courageto act" and said "the UN's unconditional plan of action cannot be held hostage tothe global political and economic designs of some powers and the connivance of auniversally condemned regime". The message read out by Eduardo Faleiro said:"Namibia summons up theimage of a heroic fight againstexploitation, inhumanityand international double-dealing."United NationsFrom the very birth of the United Nations, India's consistent endeavour has beento usetheworld bodyas an instrument, which can promotefreedom and peace. Atthe sametime, India's attitude towards the role of the UN in liberating thepeoplesof Africa, Asia and Latin America has been distinctive and in many waysunique.The first battle was over racial discrimination in South Africa, When India raisedthis problem in the United Nations in 1946, South Africa took

shelter behind the domestic jurisdiction clause of the United Nations. India playeda key role in demolishing this thesis and transforming certain other issues whichwere considered to be purely internal or-domestic into international concerns.On the question of decolonisation, India felt perturbed over the slow progress inthis field. In collaboration with other countries, Nehru inspired the United Nationsto evolve a new charter on decolonisation. The UN Charter included provisionscovering two categories of colonial territories-Trust Territories and Non-selfgoverning Territories. India contended that progress towards the completeemancipation of such dependent peoples had been too slow and needed to beaccelerated.The efforts of India and other freedom-loving countries led to the passing of aresolution bythe UN General Assembly in December 1970 entitled "declarationon the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples". Itreaffirmed the principles in the Charter concerning fundamental human rights and

the selfdetermination of peoples and called for immediate measures to tra nsferpowers to the peoples of the coldnial territories.It was a great honour for India when it was made the first chairman of theDecolonisation Committee (Committee of 24). Since then it has been an activemember of the Committee, having helped to deliver many colonised people toindependence. At the same time India's work on the Trusteeship Committee, theSpecial Committee On Non-self-governing Territories and the Fourth Committeehasearned herthe praise of the colonised people and the wrath of the imperialists.The liberation of the African peoples has been a continuous preoccupation withinthe four walls of the United Nations,On African issues as well as on non-African issues, India has been in closeconsultation with the African group at the United Nations. On questions ofapartheid and Namibia, in particular, India has been generally guided by thedecisions and resolutions of the Organisation of African Unity. As a matter offact, India places a lot of importance on the OAU, non-aligned and UNresolutions on all colonial issues. The Government of India has consistentlyunderscored the fact that the liberation struggles, especially those of the Africanpeople, present a grave threat of death and destruction. Hence if expeditious andeffective steps are not taken soon to bring freedom to the colonised people itwould mean increased tensions resulting in violent conflicts on a larger scale.Thereby, the world maywell lose all it hasgarnered over millennia of humanintelligence, wisdom and energy, The threat of bloodshed and impending civilwar in South Africa is a clear pointer to the threats which India sees to worldpeace today. It is for this reason that Indian leaders conceive the role of the UnitedNations to be far from being neutral and passive, It has urged that the UN's is adynamic role aimed at creating conditions that would lead to peace and freedom.Speaking at the Silver Jubilee celebrations of the UN General Assembly in 1970,Prime Minister Indira Gandhi told a glittering gathering that she had come toreiterate her country's deep commitment to the principles and purposes of the UN

Charter, Ever since India became sovereign, the United Nations had occupied apivotal position in its foreign policy. She said:All these twenty-five years we have striven to make the United Natiohs stronger,and to defend it from the corrosive effects of cynicism, We have borne burdens onits behalf, undertaking missions of peace to Korea, the Gaza and Congo. We haveendeavoured to serve the cause of peace in IndoChina. We have sought toreconcile the conflicting viewpoints in this forum, And we have resisted attemptsto subordinate the United Nations to powerfulnational wills,Indira Gandhi then underscored the role of the world body in removing theshackles of slavery for which India had also worked ceaselessly and patiently. Inringing tones she declared:The great revolutionary cycle which was set in motion by the struggles forindependence, by the yearning for equality, by the search fora new meaning inlife, is notyet complete, We have pledged ourselvesto complete the unfinishedrevolution of our times. Rekindling faith in itself, the United Nations must

concern itself with this unfinished task, Vast political changes have taken place,but some countries still find themselves under the yoke of colonialism, The worldo rganisation mustworkfor their liberation,Where theories of racial superioritydetermine governmental policies, the United Nations must work for racialequality. We cannot view with equanimity the supply of arms to South Africa.The total abolition of colonialism and racialism in every form is aprerequisite of a new world order.Soon afterthe Bandung sonference, independence came to Ghana in 1957 andGuinea in 1958 and later with astonishing rapidity, 17 former French colonieswere free from colonial shackles. They were followed by Nigeria, Tanzania,Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana and others. These lightning changesdelighted Nehru and other leaders of India, Portuguese territories, having paid aheavy price in blood, also won their independence in the seventies. India rejoicedover the notable national victories of the freedom fighters in Angola,Mozambique and Gui nea-Bissau. Rhodesia also is now free. But the hard core ofcolonialism and racialism remains embedded in Southern Africa,The picture, therefore, is not complete as yet. The story of racial overlordship isstill being told. South Africa is still undercolonial bondage, Racialism insideSouth Africa is like a festering sore. Namibians are crying for freedom. SouthAfrica's neighbours wish to live in peace and cherish the hope that the former canbe disciplined. The United Nations has a major role to play in Southern Africa byputting brakes on the racist regime's colonial and aggressive designs,The demand by India and other non-aligned countries for sanctions against48

South Africa under Chapter VII of the UN Charter is a just one, Only sanctionscan bring South Africa to its knees and force it to bring about a genuine majorityrule in South Africa and the decolonisation of Namibia. If the western supportersdo not agree to impose sanctions, the subcdntinent of South Africa will become atheatre of bloodshed.To end colonialism and racialism at any cost, India and other countries arestrengthening the hands of the liberation movements to step up the armedstruggle, the only other alternative. The indomitable spirit of Africans willeventually prevail and end the agony through a long-drawn bloody era. TheUnited Nations alone can see this tragedy avoided, because Southern Africa is inferment and there is an irresistible urge for freedom.On the 40th anniversay of the United Nations, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi onOctober 24, 1985 paid tribute to the international otganisation and said thatwithout it many liberation movements would not have succeeded. Yet, infrustrantion and anguish he said: "Twenty-five years have passed since the UNDeclaration of freedom for colonies and seven years since the Security Councilunanimously spelt out the steps for Namibia's independence. Seven years ofdeprivation. Seven years of death. The world awaits an independent Namibia."

Political Relations

After the advent of India's independence In 1947 and with the emergence ofAfrican nations on the international scene, Indo-African relations were greatlyenriched each year with scores of political level exchanges, many of them at thesummit level, Since India and the countries of Africa share common values ofpeace, freedom and progress, there has been a complete identity of views oninternational issues that have over the years created tension and turmoil.On the questions of Southern Africa, Arab-Israel dispute, Indian Ocean anddisarmament in particular, India and the Organisation of African Unity, whichreflectsthe political aspirations of theAfrican countries, have been on a similarpolitical wavelength. A cursory glance at the resolutions of the OAU and the jointcommuniques issued at the end of the visits to African leaders to India and ofIndian leaders to Africa will clearly bear out the authenticity of the abovestatement. Apart from political understanding, the exchange of visits has also letto agreements of economic cooperation.The Arab countries of Africa have always appreciated India's support to the Araband Palestinian cause, which means condemnation of Israel's aggressive andexpansionist policies and Israel's defiance of world opinion in not vacating theArab lands it has forcibly occupied, a demand made by the United Nations, theLeague of Arab States and the Organisation of African Unity,The Government of India's diplomatic recog nition of the Arab League's office inNew Delhi in 1965 provoked Zionist indignation to such an extentthat itled aninfluential Israeli newspaper to demand that Israel and the Jewish organisations inthe world reconsider their attitude towards the Government of India. Whatannoyed the Israeli mouthpiece the most was the fact that India was the only non-Arab countrywhich had granted diplomatic recognition to the Arab League, It wasalso pointed out in that article that the Government of India had cancelled thevisits of some of its nationals to Israel and permission to celebrate Israel'sIndependence Day in the Indian capital was not granted,During her State visit to Cairo in October 1967, Prime Minister Indira Gandhistronglycondemned the Israeli attack on Egyptand asked forthe withdrawal of theJewish forces from the occupied Arab land and demanded the reopening of theSuez Canal.The press in Cairo described her as"one of thesymbols of peace in theworld".India has been strongly opposed to the secession movements in Africa,particularly in Zaire, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Chad and the Sudan. It has time and againcondemned the nefarious activities of the white mercenaries in Zaire, Guinea,Senegal and the Seychelles. On the question of border disputes in Africa, NewDelhi has always appealed to the neighbouring belligerent nations to solve their

disputes through peaceful negotiations without outside interference. In generalterms, India welcomes African solutions to African problems.As an uncompromising champion of freedom and a vehement opponent ofcolonialism and racialism. India has been an unequivocal supporter of theliberation movements, SWAPO, ANC and P.olisario, in particular. I ndia feelsthat resort to armed struggle for liberation is an honourable cause, which receivesthe Government of India's moral and material support. Speaking on the occasion

of Africa Day, 1986, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi said: "We are honoured tohave with us on Africa Day one of Africa's bravest freedom fighters: Sam Njoma.He personifies the qualities for which the African struggle has earned renownthroughout the world, unflinching courage and unwavering commitment,dedication, endurance, discipline; and the will to victory."India welcomed the birth of the Organisation of African Unity in Addis Ababa inMay 1963, The successive Indian Ambassadors in Ethiopia have maintainedextremely cordial relations with the OAU secretariat in the Ethiopian capital.Africa Day (May 25) is celebrated each year in New Delhi as Africa Freedom-cum-Africa Unity Day.A high-powered OAU team led by Tanzanian Foreign Minister John Malecelapaid a five-day official visit to New Delhi in March 1975. The team had extensivediscussions with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and officials of the Ministry ofExternal Affairs. The liberation struggle in Africa, Malecela explained, wasinspired by Mahatma Gand hi, who was the first to raise the banner againstapartheid and Africans owed a debt of gratitude to Jawaharlal Nehru also, whoblazed a trail for the subject people all over the world.The main purpose of the OAU delegation's visit he said, was to thank theGovernment and the people of India at this hour of triumph for the Africanliberation movements, which India had supported politically and aided materiallyin the past. The team was also exploring the prospects of Indian assistance to theemerging nations in the task of nation-building.Malecela said that the OAU planned to utilise the services of Indian engineers,doctors, teachers and other trained personnel for the Portuguese colonies of Africareadying themselves for independence during thatyear. He disclosed that a largenumberof Portuguese experts and tech nicallyq uaified people had deserted theirposts in Mozambique, Angola and other Portuguese colonies owing to theirunwillingness to serve a free African regime, or out of fear of retaliation for theirpast misdeeds.Characterising India as a nation that was "more developed among the developingnations", the leader of the OAU team appealed to the people of India to comeforward to cooperate with these newly emerging nations in their currentdifficulties. The Indian Prime Minister, he said, was sympathetic to the idea ofhelping the former Portuguese colonies,The United Nations is the best place for seeing India and Africa work closely onall matters of interest to the international community, especially on subjects which

relate to freedom and peace. The similarity of views is astonishing, much to thediscomfort of some western countries. During the past three years of India'schairmanship of the Non-aligned Movement, Indian representatives at the UNhave seen to it that that Non-aligned Movement and the Africa group keep up theregular process of consultations at all levels. Thrs has become an important factorin the functioning of the UN system, so much to the advantage of the developingcountries. As itis, India sees clearlythat the numerical strength ofthe OAU,whichis nearlyone-third thestrength of the United Nations, gives so much prestige andimportance to Africa.

It is well worth noting that the Africa group at the UN shows remarkable unity onmatters relating to Southern Africa. The issue of racism unites all the countries inthe continent as no other single issue does. It is very much to India's liking whenit sees theAf rica group at th UN presenting texts of possible positions whichserve as the basis of the non-aligned declarations and resolutions.It also needs recalling that the mood in Africa around the time of the New DelhiNon-aligned Summit was one of anger against the United States. President RonaldReagan had, just prior to the summit described South Africa as a "friend and ally",and an aroused African group insisted on a stronger language in the resolution onSouthern Africa submitted to the summit. This suited the Indian and non-alignedstrategy.India has watched with admiration the identification of the African continent as awhole with non-alignment, one half the numerical strength of the movement. Itserves the cause of peace, India feels, when Africa gives a firm anti-colonial andanti-racial content to the movement. At the same time as the continent with thelargest number of least developed countries, Africa gives impetus to the demandfor a New International Economic Order. India thus feels that Africa is the acidtest of the success of the International efforts towards a new order based onequality and human dignity. For India, therefore, the African continentwill alwaysremain a region of veryspecial concern. And Africans see India asa friend in need.India and Africa thus fulfil all the tests of friendship.India's respect for the political leaders of Africa is evident from the fact that fourworthy sons of Africa have been honoured with the coveted Jawaharlal NehruAward for International Understanding. They are President Kenneth Kaunda ofZambia, President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, South African freedom fighterNelson Mandela and President Leopold Senghor of Senegal. The award wasinstituted by the Government of India in 1965 as a tribute to the memory ofJawaharlal Nehru for his life-long dedication to the cause of peace andinternational understanding.Receiving the award on January 25,1975, President Kaunda called upon the thirdworld cou ntries to work more closely to meet the international economic crisisand to further the aims and objectives of sovereignty and freedom of nations in agenuinely interdependent and peaceful world. "The grave crisis of our timesrequires the vision, wisdom, courage and determination of a Jawaharlal Nehru",he said.52

Expressing his deep senseof honour at receiving the award, the Zambian leaderspoke with feeling and reverence of the path of non-alignment shown by Nehruand his followers. The path of a new social and political order had a major role inaverting a third world war as tensions raged in those days of cold war. Nehru,Nasser and Tito could have chosen the easy way out by -accepting one nuclearumbrella or the other, but they braved hostility and evolved their own policywhich gave accent to peace, freedom, non-alignment and sovereignty of freenations, he said.

Prime minister Indira Gandhi read out a citation which hailed Kenneth Kaunda asa freedom fighter and a compassionate human being, who became a tirelesschampion of African unity and freedom and lent moral and material support to theliberation movements of Africa. The citation read: "In the life of every nation,there are occasions when its ethos is identified with one man who rises aboveoppression, degradation and wages a struggle againstthem, and by hissufferingsand sacrifices inspires his fellowmen to liberate themselves. Such a man isKenneth Kaunda, the founder of modern Zambia."The citation noted that Dr Kaunda rose above the indignities he suffered at thehands of the colonial rulers. It spoke of his relentless fight for the freedom of hispeople and adherence to non-violence and universal freedom. "Society, as DrKaunda sees it, should be man-oriented without prejudice of colour, creed orreligion, Not tensions and confrontation but cooperatin and understanding amongdifferent peoples must form the basis of the new society envisioned by MrKaunda. President Kaunda's path will ensure peace and build bridges ofunderstanding and tolerance among different peoples."The citation said Dr Kaunda's "humanism transcends parochial and racialboundaries embracing all mankind".The Zambian,President was hailed as a "manof vision, an internationalist of greatstature, a humanist in whom JawaharlalNehru saw a kindred spirit". "In honouring him today, we recognise that likeJawaharlal Nehru, Kenneth Kaunda is committed to the same belief and idealswhich will prevail for generations to come", the citation said.President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, who presented the award to the ZambianPresident paid tributes to his indomitable spirit, his love for his people andhisfight for all subjugated mankind. President Ahmed said both Kaunda andNehru were men of intense compassion. They envisaged a world without war, aworld without want and aworld of universal brotherhood,where mankind couldlive in peace and harmony.The President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere, was presented the 1973 Nehru Awardat a glittering function in New Delhi, on January 17, 1976. The presentation hadbeen delayed by three years as it had not been possible for Nyerere to visit theIndian capital earlier. The Prime Ministerof India, Indira Gandhi in a brief addressbefore delivering the citation, said that Julius Nyerere had played a part in theformation of her own personality as she had known him as a friend, a friend ofhIer father and as one whose understanding of world problems was a lesson to all.In

the citation, she described Dr Nyerere as a man of vision, a man of action and aman of compassion who would liketo light a candle on top of MountKilimanjaroto bring hope and faith to those in despair. In honouring him, thepeople had dedicated themselves to the ideals of Jawaharlal Nehru once again.Presenting the award, President Ahmed said that Nyerere was one of theoutstanding leaders of resurgentAfrica and one of the foremost champions ofhuman rights. It was fitting thatthiseminent fighter against racialism andcolonialism and staunch champion of Afro-Asian unity and cooperation should behonoured with an award instituted in the name of a great emancipator of mankind.

Addressi ng the gathering after receiving the award, the Tanzanian leadercalledfor the establishment of a new world economic order based on internationaljustice, which he said, was the only way towards greater equality of mankind,Stressing the basic unity of mankind, Nyerere said the working of the economicsystems created by man had caused exploitation of some by others. This had ledto gross inequalities In the world, economic, political and social, which had to befought. The first necessityfor this was a deliberate transfer of wealth from the richto the poor nations and a series of changes in the world finance and exchangesystem. This had to be coupled with the development of respect forthe humanityofthe individual, both nationally and internationally, Nyerere added. He said thefirst responsibility of the poor nations was to arouse and channel the power oftheir people to further their own development and not the profit of. the few.Condemning racialism in all its forms, President Nyerere said that the onlyway toroot it out from the minds of men was to challenge its organised State expression,The nations of the world had to unite to take positive action to defeat the tyrannybased on race as it was a challenge to all mankind,The unity of mankind could no longer be denied, he added and this was perhapsthe greatest achievement of man today. Even in societies where economicinequalities existed, this situation was not regarded with pride. Only in onecountry did they pretend that the species of homo sapiens was divided into menand submen. Colonialism must be totally rejected as a system of politicalorganisation, he said, The Tanzanian President received a standing ovation fromhis audience as he concluded his hour-long speech with the words: "Our pathlies.., through the development of all human beings regardless of race, colour,culture or creed."The Nehru Award for the year 1979 was conferred on Nelson Mandela inrecognition of his fight against oppression and racial prejudice, Theyear 1979 hadbeen designated by the UN as "Anti-apartheid Year" and thus Mandela was theright choice for the Nehru Award. India was hoping that Nelson Mandela wouldbe released so that he could come to New Delhi to receive the award, failingwhich New Delhi was keen to welcome his wife Winnie, But because of thenoncooperation of the authorities in Pretoria, ANC President Oliver Tambotravelled to India to take part in the award-giving ceremony on November14,1980. Presenting the award, President Sanjeeva Reddy of India said: "Theconferment of the award is a reiteration of India's unflinching support to theAfrican people in their fight

against apartheid, racialism and colonialism." Tambo opened his speech at theceremony with the observation that "thevast majorityof the people of South Africaregard this day in New Delhi as a national obcasion forthem". In a moving speechon the occasion, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said: "Mandela is with us in spiritas is my father."Winnie Mandela has hailed India's decision to boycott the 1986 Commonwealthgames. In a letter to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, she said: "You can imagine therejoicings at Soweto," She expressed gratitude for India's solidarity with theoppressed South African people and for leading the world in honouring her

husband. She thanked the Indian Prime Minister for his birthday greeting to herhusband, who is languishing in jail for his relentless struggle for the country'sfreedom and said: "The warmth. love and solidarity of the people of India give uscourage and strength to stand up and walk upright under the load of apartheid andcontinue the bitter struggle against the inhuman regime."India's President Zail Singh conferred the 1982 Jawaharlal Nehru Award forInternational Understanding on Leopold Sedar Senghor, former President ofSenegal on December 12,1984. At a function held in New Delhi with adistinguished gathering present, the President recalled the rich contribution madeby Senghorto international understanding and world peace. He was a poet,teacher, philosopher, statesman and an ardent promoter of universal brotherhood."A great supporter of national independence and international cooperation basedon mutual respect and tolerance, he has spoken consistently and in an unwaveringvoice, for freedom, racial equality, African unity, world peace and internationalcooperation."Receiving the award Serighor said: "Thejuryof theJawaharlal Nehru Award hashonoured me by bestowing on tre this coveted award. I have appreciated this allthe more because my teachers at Sorbonne had taught me to admire Indiancivilisation when I was a student."The citation honouring Senghor at the award ceremony said:The world community owes a special debt of gratitude to Senghor. Hehasenriched our lives with the magic of his words, the enchantment of his images,the acuity of his insights and the magnitude of his visions. No one would havebeen prouder today to find his name linked with that of Leopold Sedar Senghorthan Jawaharlal Nehru forwhom the emancipation of Africa, as that of all nationssubjected to colonial domination marked the most significantdevelopment in the troubled history of this century,At the official diplomatic, level, India has rapidly established and expanded itsdiplomatic commercial and consular relations with independent countries ofAfrica. Resident Indian Missions now exist in Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana,Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco,Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Seychelles, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda,

'Tanzania, Zaire, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Non-resident Indian Missions coverBenin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo,Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau,Lesotho, Liberia, Mall, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, RWanda, Swaziland, Togo andUpper Volta. An office of the Commissioner of India has been established atMombasa and consulates at Djibouti, Sierra Leone, Port-Said and Zanzibar,Development of commercial and economic ties with countries of theiraccreditation is one of the most important function of these Missions, whether ornot they have a separate commercial wing.Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Mauritius, Morocco,Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Tanzania, Zaire, Zambia andZimbabwe have established resident diplomatic missions in India.

The record of the visits of the Indian leaders to Africa and of the African leadersto India during the past 25 years is quite impressive, These visits not only enabledthe leaders to discuss matters of mutual interest, but also demonstrated India'sabiding interest in peace and progress of the African countries. Through thesevisits India has also underlined its traditional interest in Africa's major politicalcause, namely, elimination of the remaining vestiges of colonialism and racialism.Astothevisitsof Indian leaders, Indira Gandhiwas received in EastAfrica in 1961in her capacity as the President of the Indian National Congress. Jawaharlal Nehruvisited Egypt thrice and Nigeria in 1962. Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri wasin Cairo for the Non-aligned Summit in September 1964. In her capacity as PrimeMinister, Indira Gandhi paid visits to Egypt in 1966 and 1967, Zambia in 1970forthe Non-aligned Summit, Algeria in 1973 again forthe Non-aligned Summit,Kenya, Mozambique and Mauritius in 1982 and Libya and Tunisia in 1984. PrimeMinister Rajiv Gandhi paid a State visit to Algeria and Egypt in 1985 and in 1986his African safari took him to Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Tanzania and later toMauritius.Indian Vice-President Zakir Hussain visited Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia in1964 and President S. Radhakrishnan was received in Ethiopia and Egypt in 1965.President Fakhruddin All Ahmed paid State visits to three African countries,Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia in 1972. Vice President B.D. Jattiwenton anofficial visit to Tanzania in 1975. Another Indian President Sanjeeva Reddy'sAfrican tour took him to Kenya and Zambia in 1981. President Zail Singh visitedMauritius in 1984 for the 150th anniversary of Indian immigration to that country,Apartfrom that a number of Indian foreign ministers have been paying visits to anumber of African countries. A good many Indian mihisters have also visitedMauritius, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, andAlgeria for periodic meetings of the Joint Commissions. During these visits Indiahas reiterated its preparedness to share with the countries of Africa the experiencegained in the process of Its own development. Various agreements and protocolscovering trade, economic, technical, scientific and cultural cooperation were alsosigned during these official visits,

ATTOtp" W,F.I7NEY.

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25. ......... .

1. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi with friends outside his office in Durban,South Africa,1913.2. Jawaharlal Nehru. Gamal Abdel Nasser and Josip Broz Tito in Belgrade, 1961.3. Gamal Abdel Nasser, Josip Broz Tito and Jawaharlal Nehru in Belgrade, 1961.4. Dr. Oliver Tambo,'President o the African National Congress of South Alricabeingreceived by Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, New Delhi, 1983,5. Ciloyen Kengo wa Dondo, First Stale Commissioner of Zaire with PrimeMinister IndiraGandhi in New Delhi, 1983.6. Marshal Samora Machel, President of Mozambique being received by PrimeMinisterIndira Gandhi in New Delhi, 1983.7, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi with President Denis Sassou-Nguesso of Congo,New Delhi,1983.8. Sam Nujoma, President o1 SWAPO, President Kaunda. President Nyerere andPrimeMinister Indira Gandhi in New Delhi, 1983,9. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi with President Ahmed Sekou Toure, New Delhi,1983. 10. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi with President Julius Nyerere, NewDelhi, 1983. 11. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with delegates cf the NonalignedCoordinating BureauMeeting, Now Delhi, 1986.12, Sam Nuloma with SWAPO delegation at the Extraordinary MinisterialMeeting otCoordinating Bureau ol Nonaligned countries on Namibia. New Delhi, April1985.13. Sam Nujoma, President of SWAPO being greeted by Prime Minister RajivGandhi andYasser Arafat, Chairman, Palestine Liberation Organisation at thecommemoration of the25th Anniversary of SWAPO, New Delhi, April 1985.

14. Prime Minister Rajiy Gandhi at the Exlraordinary Ministerial Meeting ofCoordinatingBureau ot Nonaligned countries on Namibia. New Delhi, April 1985.15, Sam Nuloma, President of SWAPO with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, NewDelhi, 1986. 16, Sam Nujoma, President ot SWAPO hoisting the flag at Embassyof SWAPO of Namibia, NewDelhi.17. Sam Nujoma, President of SWAPO with Eduardo Faleiro, Minister of Statefor ExternalAflairs during the opening ot the Embassy ot SWAPO of Namibia, New Delhi,1986. 18 Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with President Kenneth Kaunda in Lusaka,1986. 19, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with Prime Minister Robert Mugabe onarrival at Harare. 1986. 20. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with President JoseEduardo dos Santos in Luandi. 1986. 21, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi withPresident Jose Eduardo dos Santos on arrival atLuanda, 1986.22, Prime Minister Raliv Gandhi at the Agostinho Nato Memorial Luanda, 1986.23. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with President Ali Hassan Mwinyi on arrival atDar-es-Salam,1986.24. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi being welcomed by Prime Minister AneeroodJugnauth inPor Louis, 1986.25, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with elder statesmen Julius Nyerere, Dar-es-Salam, 1986.

As to African leaders, President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana was the ffrst to pay aStatevisitto India in the 50's. But it wasonly in the mid-60'sthat India staltedplaying host to a number of African Heads of State and Government. Uganda'sMilton Obote, then Prime Minister, visited India in 1965, followed by SudanesePresident Sayed Ismail el Azhari in 1967 and Emperor HaileSelassie of Ethiopiain 1968. President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and President Leopold Senghorcame to India in 1973 and 1974 respectively. In 1975, New Delhi welcomedPresident Kenneth KaundaofZambiawho cameto Indiato receivethe Nehru Awardand Prime Minister Rashidi Kawawa of Tanzania. President Seretse Khama ofBotswana was welcomed in 1976 and the same year President Julius Nyererecame for the Nehru Award. Among the freedom fighters SWAPO President SamNujoma honoured India in 1978 with a visit, The Zambian Prime Minister DanielLusilo came to New Delhi in the year 1979.The eighties saw the beginning of an era of warmer Indo-African understanding,when more nd more African leaders started honouring India. In 1980, Indiawelcomed President France Albert Rene of the Seychelles, President Mobutu ofZaire and President Kaunda of Zambia. ANC President Oliver Tambo visitedNew Delhi in 1980 for receiving the Nehru Award on behalf of Nelson Mandela.in 1981, India had the privilege to receive President Sekou Toure of Guinea,

President Daniel Arap Moi of Kenya, President Nyerere of Tanzania, PresidentKaunda and Prime Minister Roberl Mugabe of Zimbabwe.The year 1982 was marked by visits to India from President Chadli Benjeddel ofAlgeria, President Quett Masire of Botswana, President Hilla Liman of Ghana,President Samora Machal of Mozambique and President Didier Rasirika ofMadagascar.President Hosni Mubarak, President Shehu Shagari of Nigeria, SWAPO PresidentSam Nujoma and ANG President Oliver Tambo also paid visits to India. PresidentSenghor came for the Nehru Award in 1985 and in 1986 Chairman MengistuHaile-Mariam of Ethiopia, President Rene of Seychelles, SWAPO leader Nujomaand ANC leaderTambo have been received by India. Mention must also bb madeof the fact that in view of the special Indo-Mauritian relations, Sir SeewoosagurRamgoolam and Aneerood Jugnauth have visited their country of origin on anumber of occasions.New Delhi never had the privilege of seeing so many African Heads of State andGovernment as in 1983.Theycame in large numbers forthe Non-aligned SummitIn March that year and in November for the Commonwealth Summit.Political level exchanges have undoubtedly brought India andAfrica closer andhave helped to forge cooperative bonds, The people of India and those of Africaare no more strangers. It is observed that today India's image as a champion offreedom and as a firm believer in the third world getting its due share is ratherbright.But it is felt that India's existing friendly relations with the countries of Africa

should be further strengthened through economic and technical cooperation.South-South cooperation is considered a must for the gigantic effort to overcomepoverty, hunger and underdevelopment. The complementarlties obtaining inIndianand African economies present atremendous scope for mutually beneficialcooperation. It is good to see that steps are being taken in this direction attheofficial level.

Economic CooperationPolitical independence is no doubt important, but it Is well recognised thateconomic strength is required to safeguard it, Ga'ndhi and Nehru alwaysemphasised that freedom does not connote mere political independence,buteconomic welfare and social justice. Economic independence has also beenlooked upon as an urgent precondition for the success.of an independent foreignpolicy. Indira Gandhi rightly affirmed: "Freedom is the starting point."Apart form striving to bring to completion the process of decolonisation in Africa,India would like to see stability and economic prosperity in the continent, With itslimited resources whatever little contribution India can make or is makingtowards the well-being of Africa stems from its genuine desire to strengthen theroots of the hard-won independence in the neighbouring continent.To the newly liberated countries of Africa, the scope and dimension of India'ssupport was enunciated by Indira Gandhi in these words: "We are not a richcountry. Nor can we compete with the affluent and developed nations in giving

help. but we would like to share our experience and our skills with those whomwe call our friends."In looking at India's political support and economic assistance, one must keep inmind its fundamental approach, India has desired to appear as a friend and allyand not as an exploiter; to work with and not order about; to inform not to advise;to explain, not to sermonise; to share and exchange knowledge and experience,not hand it out, determinedly shunning the temptation to take part in what JuliusNyerere calls the "second scramble for Africa",More specifically on the subject of mutual cooperation, Indira Gandhi told theNon-aligned Summit in Lusaka:The spirit of freedom goes hand in hand with the spirit of equality. Beyond thepolitical problems of the unfinished revolution, there are complex and difficulteconomic tasks, However, a realistic appraisal of our natural resources, ourcapacities and our competence reveal the possibility of ourworking together toreduce our dependence on those.who do not respect our sovereignty so thateconomic leverage for thinlydisguised political purposescannot be used againstus. Neo-colonialism has no sympathywith our efforts to achieve selfreliance, Itseeks to perpetuate our position of disadvantage, International markets are somanipulated that primary producing countries have a permanent handicap, Thelevers of technology also are operated against usthrough unequal collaboration and royalty agreements.Hence, we have to redouble our effort to gain for each nation the opportunity todevelop to its full stature. The primary responsibility rests upon each

developing country, but we also owe a duty to one another. The fallacy, that thereis no complementarity between our economies, has so far made it difficult torealise the undoubted potential of mutual cooperation. There is greatercomplementarity amongst our economies than between the economies ofdeveloped nations. Yet, advanced nations have been more successful in forminginstruments of cooperation amongst themselves and our own effort in thisdirection has not even begun. The potential of trade and economic cooperationamongst us has been left virtually unexplored. By meeting each other's needs,wewould diversifyourtrade, safeguard it against the caprices of internationalcommerce, and reduce our dependence onmiddle-men and brokers.South-South cooperation and collective self-reliance among the developingcountries is considered by India as a positive strategy to deal with the developedcountries from a position of strength and confidence in its pursuit of North-Southdialogue, Inaugurating the Seventh Non-aligned Summit in New Delhi, IndiraGandhi picked up the theme more boldly: "Each of our countries must strengthenits domestic base of science and technology and collectively we should devise amore effective mechanism for pooling our experiences. Earlier non-alignedgatherings have considered this subject. At this summit let us move forward tomake collective self-reliance a reality."But for development every developing country must look into its own nationalconditions, genius and ethos, Imported models for development are not what we

require. Nor is our dependence on high-cost technologies of the affluent, At theNew Delhi Non-aligned Summit, Indira Gandhi, therefore, emphasised thatdeveloping countries must pursue "effective cooperation in agriculture, irrigation,research in plant varieties, public health, technical training and small industries".The principle once laid down in another context by Julius Nyerere regarding thekind of help required may well be kept in mind:When we ask for technical assistance wp are almost always offered veryhighpowered expert advisers with the very reasonable condition that we shouldprovide a "counterpart" who will absorb the wisdom made available to us.The trouble is that we do not desperately need exceptionally clever people, save invery rare and special cases. What we do need very badly are practical people whoknow their job and who will come and work with our people while theytrainthem, and who are willing to taketlxcecutive responsibility under the direction andcontrol of our Government where necessary. The worldrenowned expert is oftenan embarrassment to us.President Nyerere inaugurating the non-aligned inter-regional programme ofcooperation inGeorgetown (Guyana) on September 13, 1974 called upon thirdworld countries to seek India's economic cooperation and technical assistance

for meeting their needs. He urged poor countries to help each other saying that"the real economic partners of the poor are the other poor". He added, however:"Despite the fact that India had made great strides in the manufacture of simplertype of capital equipment, do any of us investigate whether our wants can be metfrom that country before we place an order in Europe or America?"Nyerere's call to other developing countries to look to India for economiccooperation was made because he real ises that there are similarities of socio-economic conditions and cooperation is mutually beneficial, He is, therefore, awellknown advocate of economic cooperation between India and the newlyindependent countries of Africa.More so, because the economies of most of the African countries have registereda perceptible decliine in the past decade or-so. Apart from the direct effect of oilprice increases, Africa has also been hit by the recession in the industrialisedcountries resulting in the fall in prices of primary commodities, both mineral andagricultural. Inflationary pressure and the debt burden have made things worse forthe continent, which is struggling hard to balance its trade.India has noted with grave concern that during the past manyyears, Africa'sagriculture production has been on decline, resulting in large Imports offoodgrain, Drought in manycountries and scanty rainfall in most others haveaggravated already serious food production problems. The stark reality of theshortage of food resulted in acute famine in countries like Ethiopia, Sudan,Somalia, Chad, Mauritania and other Sahel countries of West Africa.While India is keen to share the experiment of its successful Green Revolutionwith the countries of Africa, it is good to note that the realityof the economidsituation drove Africa to place more reliance on Its own Initiatives, The mostimportant summit of the Organisation of African Unity, with special emphasis onthe continent's economic situation, was held in Lagos on April 28, 1980, President

Sheh.u Shagari of Nigeria opened the meeting by saying: "This meeting is thesignal for Africa'sstruggle for economic independence. Itwill be a long battle, butabattle we are determined to win, forwe know that without political independenceit is Impossible to achieve economic independence; and without economic powerpolitical independence is meaningless, incomplete and insecure,"The principal achievement of the summit was the adoption of a plan to createan"African Common Market" by the year 2000. The idea had originated at theOAU summit of July 1979 in Monrovia,when the OAU Secretariat had beenasked to produce "guidelines and measures for national and collective self-reliance".The other important economic objectives of the Lagos Plan of Action were:-self-sufficiency In food production;-creation of efficient African communication links'-promotion of intra-African trade' and-creation of an energy common market by the year 2000.The African determination to pull itself out of the economic chaos is an*encouraging trend and this encourages and propels India to promote coopera-

tion with the countries of Africa on bilateral as well as multilateral level, India'sdesire to cooperate with Africa takes a positive dir ension because its experiencein planned development is relevant to Africa. No African has ever pointed out thatit is an imported model. On the other hand one hears many African leaders say:"When India can do it, why not Africa."Finding the responsefrom Africa positive, economic cooperation has become astrong underlying theme with India in its international relationship for the pastfew years. In fact India took the initiative in sponsoring economic cooperation asan integral programme amongst the non-aligned countries and in helping to buildup the Group of 77 within UNCTAD. India has noted that theAlgiersCharterfashioned out by the Group of 77 reiterates the need for the developingcountries to promote maximum cooperation amongst themselves, so that theresponsibility for development is shared to the maximum extent by them.In concrete terms, India conceives economic cooperation with the countries ofAfrica in a broad four-tier set-up: balanced trade, joint ventures, technicalassistance, and consultancy. The base for fruitful cooperation is, of course, set byexchange of commodities and products. International trade also plays a vital rolein getting together countries geographically apart and creating in them a sense ofbelonging.The mutuality of interests generated by close and increasing trade exchangestends to influence countries to work in cooperation in other fields as well. Butconfining the exchanges between independent countries to the field of trade alonemay prove unequal at times. If, however, on this foundation the growingsuperstructure of technical assistance, joint collaboration etc. is. also built up,what results is an integral pattern of relationship strong enough to sustain short-term strains and yet dynamic enough to propel an ever-widening circle of closeinterdependence-a feeling of partnership. That is what India is trying to achieve

with the friendly countries of Africa, Signing of trade agreements with a numberof African countries bears testimony to the desire for mutual cooperation,Trade LinkageThe dimension of commercial exchanges between India and Africa is gettingsteadily widened, although it is depressing to note thatthetrade figure is on thedecrease. The present-day economic crisis of Africa leading to critical shortage ofhard currency has much to do with this trend,India is no more an exporter of old traditional items, the primary products, but hastaken to the export of manufactured goods, some of them as sophisticated as thoseavailable in the West. The seven groups of manufactured good, engineeringproducts, iron and steel, cotton manufactures and textile products, jute goods,chemicals and pharmaceuticals, tobacco manufactures and certain kinds of foodproducts, account for the major bulk-over 80 per cent-of India's exports to Africa.

The items India imports from Africa are also limited in numbers and quantity.These are precious and semi-precious stones, particularly diamonds, edible oils,raw cotton, phosphates, copper, zinc, raw cashew and dyeing and tanningmaterials. They are all crucial items and any reduction in their imports is likely tocause a slowdown in India's industrial production.India's major trading partners are Algeria, Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana,Kenya, Libya, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sudan,Tanza-nla, Tunisia, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is a cause forconcern to India that its trade with the Francophone countries is almost negligible,although efforts have lately been made to enter these markets, with someencouraging success.It is noteworthy tlhat although Indo-African commericial ties are age-old andsignificant endeavours have been made towards increasing mutuaily beneficialtrade likns, much more needs to be done. Thefigures of trade hardly near anyrelationship with either the needs or requirements of the countries of thecontinent, or the capacity and capability of India, India's share of exports to Africais just about four percentof its total exports and of imports from Africa is less thantwo per cent.TABLE IIndo-African Trade*(Rs million)Exports Imports Balance of Trade1976-77 1432.1 1672.7 + 240.61977-78 1987.4 1979.7 + 7.81978-79 1850,4 982.8 + 867.61979-80 2023.6 1616.4 + 407,21980-81 2702,5 1452,2 + 1250.31981-82 2960.9 1229.7 + 1731.21982-83 2527.9 1686,7 + 841.21983-84 1864.4 3135.6 -1271,21984-85 1884.4 2220,4 - 336,01985-86 480.9 490,6 - 9.6

(April-June)*Relates to African countries, South of SaharaIndia, it appears, has not tapped the African markets fully, A good many itemsthattheAfrican countries keep importing can easily be supplied by India. Africansare also not in the knowof the potential of India. This communication gap has tobe filled. In food and beverages, light engineering products like nuts and bolts,fans, sewing machines, electrical and electronic goods and machinery andequipment, which form a considerable. position of Africa's Imports, India, overthe years, has developed tremendous capacity and has comparative costadvantage. These products are even finding markets in the West,

It is good to see that India is making efforts to find new markets in the continentfor its needs. For example, India imports raw cashew form Tanzania andMozambique and these countries can not meet India's needs. Benin, Ivory Coastand even Nigeria can supply the required quantity of cashew. Similarly India'srequirements of edible oil and oil seeds can be met from a number of WestAfrican countries. Ghana is a new supplier of diamonds to India.Since many countries In Africa are critically short of foreign exchange, India isoffering commercial credits, but on a modest scale because of its paucity ofresources. The credit terms are soft, bearing an interest of five per cent in mostcases. They are primarily designed to enable the countries concerned to buy goodsand services from India. But it is odd to note that a number of African countrieshave not utilised the credits offered by India. According to a study made by theExim Bank of India, not even 50 per cent of credits sanctioned for purchase ofIndian goods have been utilised. The major shortfalls have been in countries likeTanzania, Ghana, Zambia and Uganda, the countries which need the credits most.TABLE IIIndian Credits to African CountriesGovern me nt-to-Government Commercial (Re million)Mozambique 40 180Ghana 50 50Zambia 100 150Uganda 25Tanzania 50 174Mauritius 150 150Seychelles 25 50440 754Two years ago India came out with an ambitious Africa Plan in regard to Itsexports. But present-day circumstances are such that the exports have declined,instead of increasing. The most important factor which haseroded the enthusiasmof Indian exporters is the delay in receiving payments from a number of Africancountries. Since the World Bank has projected that many African countries willcontinue to face slow growth rates, high rate of inflation and difficult externalbalance position, chances of Indian exports catching up immediately seem to beremote,

Another malor cause of decrease in Indo-African trade isthe inadequate and oftenirregularshipping services. Export and importcargoes keep piling up at Indian andAfrican ports for months, Heavy freight and high insurance costs are anotherformidable impediment in the way of trade,

While India and Africa must sit down and sort out infrastructural problems likeshipping, the economic hardship of Africa, despite a pessimistic picture paintedby theWorld Bank, is a passing phase. Two orthree years of normal rainfall willcurb Africa's food imports and increase the prospects of earning foreign exchangefrom cash crops liketea, coffee, sisal, tobacco, cocoa, groundnuts etc. Africa isrecovering fast and the signs of revival in fact are already visible. Indo-Africantrade will not only attain to its old glory but will soon reach a new horizon.Joint VenturesWhile trade is recognised as an important link in the economic cooperationprogramme, India also recognises the need for cooperation with the friendlycountries in the matter of setting up joint ventures and sponsoring programmes ofjoint collaboration. India's joint ventures, now in production and those that are onthe anvil are more than 280.The majority of these ventures are in Africa and Asia. Indian participation in thejoint,ventures covers a wide and exciting spectrum, including paper and pulp,machine tools, tractor assembly, electric fans, steel furniture, razor blades,chemicals, textiles, glass products, cement, soft drinks, auto parts, diesel sets, jutegoods, garments etc. TheAf rican cou ntriesthat are the beneficiaries of as manyas 44 projects are Botswana, Egypt, Kenya, Liberia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal,Seychelles, Uganda and Zambia. The total Indian equity in these projects IsRs488 million,A look at the terms and conditions on the basis of which these collaborationarrangements have been finalised will convince one th~t the dominant motive isonly to share the knowledge which India possesses in the sphere of industrialtechnology, together with a keenness to help other developing countries. ThusIndia has stipulated that Indian partners in these collaboration projects willnormally not have majority participation; they will be mainly minority partners,Their contribution to equity capital should be in terms of supply of capitalequipment and know-how. The basic idea of the terms of these agreements is thatthe collaboration arrangement should not smack of anything even remotelysuggestive of any kind of exploitation, The management of all these projects fromthe beginning or atleast at a laterstagewillfall inthehandsof local partners.Trainingof local labour is an essential part of the agreement.Indian technology which is of the intermediate type, involving more labour andless capital, is relatively well suited to Africa, where capital is scarce and labour,both unskilled and skilled, abundant. It ought to be borne in mind that thelabourintensive technology which India offers through joint ventures is notnecessarily lowest cost technology, but it does enjoy comparative cost advantageat a lowvolume of production needed by most, if not all developing counbtries.Barring Nigeria, most countries of Africa have small consumer markets.Undoubtedly, jointventures have played a major role in stepping up the themeof

two-way cooperation, thus paving the way for the much-desired self-reliantindustrial development. Africans are now beginning to realise and accept thateconomic and technical cooperation among developing countries (ECDC andTCDC) is an extremely beneficial way of boosting the process of economicdevelopment, for It provides an opportunity of transfer andassimilation of moderntechnology best suited to the needs and genius of the developing countries.In the ultimate analysis, India is largely motivated bythe desire to share itsexperience of development. The offer of collaboration from a developing countrylike India, which has a relativelystrong industrial and infrastructural base andwhich has the third largest reservoir of technical and scientific talent (after theUSA and USSR) meets the varied needs of the developing- countries and acts asan alternative source of transfer of technology. Significantly, the scope foroverseas ventures is slowly but steadily expanding. Apart from joint ventures byequity participation, several project contracts have also been undertaken by Indiancompanies, both In the public and private sectors, Some of them are even on aturnkey basis. In such cases, Indian'entrepreneurs have offered only technicalknow-how in the collaboration effort. For example, technical cooperation hasbeen extended for the manufacture of bicycles and parts in countries like Sudan,Tanzania and Zambia,It is noteworthy that the first joint venture was sponsored by India in Africa some30years ago with a lotof fanfare, Itwas a textile mill in Ethiopia, which served auseful purpose in the sense that it opened up textile production in that country andtrained Ethiopians in that field. This project has been taken over by the EthiopianGovernment.Africa should normally have provided scope for more and more joint ventures' fortwo specific reasons. First, the similarities in conditions and problems ofdevelopment and secondly, the presence of Indian settlers should provide easylocal partners. Although the scope for the expansion of jont ventures is very muchthere, progress in Indo-African collaboration in this direction has been less thanwas expected. And because of language difficulty in francophone countries, noheadway has been made in the matter of joint ventures, In fact even Indo-Africantrade with French-speaking countries has not expanded to its possible limits.A point to be borne in mind is that so far the African countries have looked to thedeveloped West for technical know-how, for their quest for rapid development,While India has acquired certain capabilities to meet the needs of Africancountries for developmental inputs, there is a general lack of awareness in thesecountries about India's capabilities. That would explain why India and Africahave not collaborated to the extent possible. This communication gap ought to bebridged.India has also to note that Africans have embarked upon a. programme ofeconomic strategy and they are keen to diversify their trade and economicrelations. Indian missions and organisations like the India Investment Centre canand should, therefore, play a greater role in publicising India's economic

achievements. Larger participation of Indian firms in trade fairs and exhibitions inAfrica should help a great deal. For trade helps joint ventures and vice versa. , Itis not often reallsed by many cqu ntries, including, those in Africa that in the lasttwo decades India has made tremendous progress in all the sectors of theeconomy through planned development. The share of primary means ofproduction like agriculture In India's GNP has gone down considerably. Industry,transport and other services now account for nearly58 per cent of the nationalincome, Moreover, India is no more an exporter of primary products and rawmaterials. It manufactures and exports even sophisticated products in a largemeasure and importsthe latest technology and industrial raw materials. India'sindustrial base was in fact laid by Nehru when he tried to bring the country intothe modern era by laying emphasis on the increased production of steel andpower. And lately, there is emphasis on R&D, even though the country still keepslooking for foreign collaborations,TABLE IIIIndian Joint Ventures in Africa in Production Under Implementation(as on September 30,1985)Country Number of Indian Equity Areas coveredProjects (Rs Thousand)Botswana 1 500 Packaging materialEgypt 2 980 Blending and Packaging of teaand management of hotelKenya 11 104,755 textiles, pulp and paper,pharmaceuticals, auto ancillaries,iron foundry, electric wire,machine tools, sulphuric acid,insurance businessLiberia 1 6,800 Glass productsMauritius 4 6,321 Garments, power drivenpumps, hotels, etc.Nigeria 21 168,023 Light engineering goods,transmission line towers, dieselsets for drilling, machine tools,drugs and pharmaceuticals,textiles, glass products, cement,soft drinks, consultancy, etc.Senegal 1 169,600 Fertilisers and phosphoric acidSeychelles 1 13,450 Sea resort hotelUganda 1 2,807 Jute goodsZambia 1 15,000 Infant foodsTotal 44 488,236

Among developing countries, India being reasonably developed offers a greatscope forcollaboration. It is also a characteristic of the Government of India'spolicies forjoint collaboration thatthey are of a highlycooperative nature andfarfrom exploitative.Asthe Government encourages joint ventures by Indian

companies in Africa, it has set upfirm guidelines, apart from the fact that Indianparticipation has to be of aj.unior partner. One of theguidelines is that only newmachineryshould be exportd from India, No second-hand oreven reconditionedmachinerywillform the equity participation.Ordinarily, Indian participation in thejointventures abroad should be in theform ofexport of indigenous plants and machinery. On merits of each, case, however,participation in on one more of the following forms may also be considered:-export of know-how;-capitalisation of service fees, royalties etc; -raising of foreign exchange loansabroad;-grant of loans by Indian participating companies to the joint venture units;-cash investment in equity.It is stipulated by the Government of India that Indian participation shouldordinarily bethrough a corporate entityin India. AnyIndian companygoing in forajoint venture abroad should have at its command necessary manufacturingexperience and positive technical competence.The questions are often asked: Have the Indian joint ventures been successful?How far havetheseventures helped In import substitution and export promotion ofthe host countries? Reports from Africasuggest that quite a few Indian jointventures set up in Kenya, Nigeria and Mauritius have served the purpose of theirexistence, They have created sizable employment, developed local manpower,technical resources, brought about savings in imports and added to foreignexchange earnings of these three countries.Oneof the most successful Indian joint ventures operating in Africa isthe unit setup by Orient Paper Mills, Calcutta in Kenyafor the manufacture of paper andpaper pulp, It started production in November 1974 and is one of the largestsingle industrial units in East Africa. India exported complete consultancy servicein paper production from feasibilitystudy and supplyof technical know-howtoplant set-up, operator training and financial and management assistance, Byexporting finished paper to neighbouring countries, Kenya has earned sizableamount of foreign exchange for the country. The unit issaid tofunction withouttrouble, A light engineering unit in Nigeria, manufacturing electric fans and steelfurniture has also given a good account of itself. It is because of the success ofsome units in Africa that there are a good number of African parties looking forIndian sponsors or entrepreneurs.Technical CooperationAsearly as 1949,when Indiawasstill struggling withthe birth pangsoffreedom, she

instituted a modest scholarship scheme for African youth to study in India. Thefirst lot of students numbered just 53. Since then, thousands have come and goneand are still coming in to pursue studies in India's hig her centres of learning, inthe technological institutes and scientific laboratories, which have come up in themeanwhile. Some of Africa's best officers in the armed forces have also beentrained in Indian defence establishments and academies,One would recollect that in 1958, soon after Ghana's independence Nkrumahasked India to help in getting the services of a wide variety of technical personnel

like doctors, engineers, architects, geologists, agricultural scientists and scienceteachers for her development programme. India moved in quickly and helped infinding them for recruitment in Ghana. Thisset a pattern of personnel aid by India,which has been utilised by many countries,This also led to the establishment of Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation(ITEC) Programme in 1964with aviewto sharing India's technical expertise withother developing countries. The programme has been steadily expanding andmore than 50 countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America have benefited from itsince its establishment.The main forms of technical assistance are providing training in India, deployingexperts abroad for short or long terms, underwriting feasibility and techno-economic studies, financing the visits of economic delegates both ways,organising technical workshops and supplying of equipment. The field ofcooperation is very extensive. Training facilities have been provided in suchdiverse fields as development of water resources, foreign trade promotion, ruraldevelopment, small-scale industries, standardisation, journalism, veterinaryscience, railways, consititutional and parliamentary studies etc. The Indian expertsdeployed have been for such fields as transportation, geology, animal husbandry,telecommunications etc, Equipment supplied has been mainly in the areas ofscientific laboratories, agriculture, engineering and law books etc. Assistance insetting up of industrial estates and technical training institutes has been warmlywelcomed by many countries of Africa, specially in Tanzania, Mauritius andKenya.ITEC's programme is multi-dimensional and covers a large numberof countries. Itis the major organisation today handling a considerable portion of India'seconomic diplomacy. It has been observed that lately assistance to Africa in thefield of food and agriculture occupies a lot of attention of the functionarieshandling ITEC programmes.In the wake of the grave food and economic situation faced bysub-Saharan andSahelian Africa, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, in November 1984, expressedsympathy and support for the struggle against the crisis. India announced a gift of100,000tonnes of wheat in keeping with the principles of internationalcooperation and mutual assistance.the major recipients of the grain were: Ethiopia(41,374 tonnes), Sudan (22,560 tonnes), Somalia (10,000 tonnes), Kenya (5,000tonnes)

and Tanzania (5,000 ton nes). The total cost of food assistance was Rs 230million.In 1985, when the crisis of food shortage in, Africa showed no signs ofimprovement, India announced another contribution of Rs 120 million worth ofwheat, amounting to 57,000 tonnes to the Organisation of African Unity SpecialEmergency Fund, The recipients were: Tanzania (15,000 tonnes), Mozambique(15,000 tonnes), Sudan (12,000 tonnes), Somalia (4,000 tonnes), Ethiopia (4,000tonnes), Madagascar (3,000 tonnes) and Seychelles, Djibouti, Saharawi ArabDemocratic Republic and the African National Congress of South Africa (1,000tones each),

The Government of India having realised the importance of strengthening theinfrastructure of Institutions related to agricultural production hosted a seven-dayworkshop in May 1986 in New Delhi at which 40 senior agricultural policyexperts from 25 African countries took part in discussions with Indian experts.The workshop was conducted with the involvement of the World Food Counciland the UN Development Programme.*The main sub-sectors in which workingsessions were held were: agricultural research and training, planning, irrigationand water management, drought management and extension services. Thesessions provided an opportunity to both African and Indian experts to identifythe specific nature of structural problems faced by individual African countriesand the possibility to formulate the strategies to tackle them,Under the Agricultural Rehabilitation Programme for Africa (ARPA) initiated bythe Food and Agricultural Organisation, the Government of India has identifiednine projects In Africa in which Indian agricultural experts will be seconded.India's contribution of Rs 120 million worth of food to the OAU Emergency Fundwas appreciated by the outgoing Acting Secretary-General of the OAU, in hisreport to the meeting of the Council of Ministers in July 1985. He expressedhappiness at the Government of India leading theway In regard tothe contributionfor this Fund.At the Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting of the Non-aligned Coordinating Bureauin New Delhi in April 1985, the critical economic situation in Africa was alsoconsidered. A Plan of Action was adopted to meet the immediate requirements ofAfrica, aswell as to evolve a medium and long-term strategy, India was chosen asa focal point to monitor this plan and to coordinate offers of assistance, Under thisplan, India will provide technical expertise for agricultural projects in sevensubSaharan countries.Africa's daunting economic problems elicit considerable sympathy in India, asalso admiration for the way thevarious cou ntries there are handling theirproblems manfully. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, in a message to the SpecialSession of the UN General Assembly on the critical economic situation in Africa(May 1986) said that though faced with political challenges and disruption causedby the world economiccrisis, the peoples and leaders of Africa had emergedstronger and more determined, Making an appeal for greater international aid toAfrica, he said: "By working together in a spirit of partnership the internationalcommunity has a great

opportunity and challenge to contribute towards building a modern andprosperous Africa, An economically strong and dynamic Africa will be animportant factor for world peace and stability,"India's Minister of State for External Affairs KR, Narayanan, who represented hiscountry at the Special UN General Assembly.session, the first ever held toconsider the economic situation in a particular region, said that the sessionmarked the beginning of a new era in international cooperation for development,so that a tragedy such asthe one Africa had been through recentlyshould neveragain befall any people anywhere in the world. Referring to Africa's Priority

Programme for Economic Recovery 1986-1990, he said India was greatlyimpressed bythe special role assigned to food and agriculture. He said:We believe it is an emphasis of strategic importance for the developing countriesof Africa. In the developmental history of my country, where the immensemajority of people, just as in Africa, live in rural areas and are dependent onagriculture, primary emphasis was placed on food and agriculture. In 1954,Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, had said "everything else canwait but not agriculture". The Green Revolution that took place in India was aresult of this particular priority in development. We are today In a position toshare the knowtedge and technology we have acquired in food andagriculturewith ourAfrican brethren.As a matterof fact, a number of collaborationprojects are underway between India and several.African countries in the field of agriculture.Also underthe ITEC programme, in thesphere of industry, especially small-scaleand medium-scale, India has initiated programmes where its experience andtechnology in this sector can be utilised by African countries. An exposition ofIndian machinery for small-scale industries was held In Nairboi in 1985 and laterin Addis Ababa, At the Biennial Pledging Conference held during the 20thSession of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, India pledged a sum of$400.000 for an ECA project for the promotion of small-scale industries InAfrica, With funds from ITEC and assistance from the National Small IndustriesCorporation, the Government of India has to establish 48 small-scale industrialunits In Tanzania, Tanzania's Agricultural University in Morogoro will reciveacademic as well as practical assistance, Five Indian experts were deputed to theZambia Small Industries Development Organisation to prepare a report fordeeloping the smallscale sector in Zambia, A vocational training centre is beingset up in Kenya. Various types of related equipment and machinery have alsobeen gifted to Tanzania, Nigeria, Zambia and Mauritius,In Southern Africa, India has attended six annual consultative conferences of theSouthern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) at which thedelegation was led by the Ministry of External Affairs and also includedrepresentatives of the National Small Industries Corporation, Water and Power

Consultants, Projects and Equipment Corporation and Exim Bank. In view of theneed to intensify India's economic relations with the "frontline states" of SouthernAfrica, at the last SADCC conference held in Harare in January 1986, Indiaannounced programmes of cooperation to be spread over a five-year period, themain features of which werethe offerof 300training fellowships, services of 100Indian specialists, joint pilot projects in agriculture, feasibility studies andconsultancyservices, a memorandum of understanding on manpower developmentand a grantof Rs 15 million forthe setting up of an Indo-SADCC IndustrialService Centre. Member countries of the SADOC have noted that India's offer ofassistance in the field of agriculture assumes special Importance in the context ofECA's "strategy for Southern African Agriculture", which involves creating goodemployment opportunities In the agricultural sector through labour-intensive ruraldevelopment schemes,

In Zimbabwe, India has initiated pilot projects in the areas of sericulturaldevelopment and commercial cultivation of rubber. An experimental station inwheat plasm to identifysturdyvarietles of wheat, suitedto local conditions has alsobeen set up there. Aproject proposal forestablishing a Rural Service Centre forenhancing economic activity based on appropriate technology in Zimbabwe isbeing developed by the Centre for Advancement of Rural Technology. InTanzania, an agricultural centre is proposed to be setu pwith Indian technicalassistance, and a feasibility study prepared for establishing a large cooperativefarm there,In the field of telecommunications, 27 engineers and technicians have beendeputed to the Zimbabwe Post and Telecommunications Corporation. Expertsfrom Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited are also on assignment in Zimbabwe. Inthe mining sector, techno-economic reports have been prepared for an aluminiumplant in Zambia and a kyanite calcination plant in Zimbabwe, A report for spongeiron projectsforthe Preferential Trade Areafor Eastern and Southern Africa will beprepared by an Indian team of experts.Some other examples of the ITEC programmes in Africa are the provision ofmachinery and equipment for establishing a handicrafts and cottage industrycentre in Dar-es-Salaam, cooperation with Kenya by way of machinery andequipment forestablishing a small-scale industrycentre in Nairboi, railway techno-economic surveys in Nigeria, help in streamlining the existing railways in Ghana,sending rail experts to Zambia and Zaire, providing mining experts and technicalknow-how to Zambia and setting up a small-scale industrial and training estate inMauritius, Liberia, Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda are also beneficiaries under theITEC programme.The visit of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to Angola in May 1986 will open newvistas of Indo-Angolan cooperation, especially when the Indian diplomaticmission will start functioning there, Under ITECa hospital will beset up in Luandaand India will help modernisation of the national museum there, A draftagreement of a economic and technical cooperation will soon be discussed andfinalised by the two governments, Angola is the SADCC coordinator for energy,India will help

Angola and SADCC in matters of non-conventional uses of energy.Indian joint ventures in Kenya having earned a good name, the scope of furthercooperation between the two countries has increased. The exhibition oftechnology for small-scale industries in Nairobi in 1985 has shown the way forestablishing an arms and ammunition project with Indian consultancy. Machineryfor a technical training school in President Moi Forces Academywill be suppliedby India under ITEC.With Ethiopia, the agreement of economic and technical cooperation signed in1969 is still valid. Railways and small-scale industries are two fields of present-day cooperation. Indian medical personnel render service in the two Indian-aidedhospitals. India has sentengineers, printing, naval and tea expertsto Ethiopia, Fiftyfellowships are provided to Ethiopia for training in various fields, An Indian teamhas prepared a feasibility report on water resources, agricultural and livestock

development. The recent visit of Chairman Mengistu to India promises theexpansion of Indo-Ethiopian bilateral cooperation,A number of West African countries, namely Ghana, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast,Gambia, Gabon, Zaire, Senegal, Guinea, Togo, Liberia and Burkina Faso aregetting assorted assistance under the ITEC programme and economic cooperationbetween these countries and India is growing every year. Small-scale industries.agriculture, bio-gas and solarenergy are popular areas of cooperation that havebeen identified. A number of trainees from these countries are being imparted in-plant training in such diverse fields as railways, posts and telecommunications.agriculture, feeder roads, remote sensing, cartography, scientific instruments etc.Nineteen Sudanese candidates have been provided training in railways. Adelegation from the Sudanese Petroleum Corporation visited India recently tostudy the oil exploration and drilling technology. Under ITEC two Indian expertshave been deputed to the University of Gezira.Assistance to Swaziland under ITEC is opening up as India has received somerequests. An agricultural implements plant was set up under ITEC in 1986.Assistance to Malawi under ITEC is response-oriented. Trainees have beenattending short-term courses in the small-scale sector. Books are being gifted tothe University of Malawi. Indo-Mozambican cooperation started with PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi's visit to Maputo in 1983. An Indian delegation from theDepartment of Industrial Development visited Mozambique and has prepared areport for cooperation in the small-scale industries sector.India's economic cooperation programme with Mauritius is of specialsignificance, in size and dimension, to both the countries, Small-scale industries,training of Mauritians in India and deputation of experts are the main themes ofcooperation, The Mahatma Gandhi Institute, a cultural organisation and theMahatma Gandhi Hospital receive a lot of attention. The number of Mauritianstudents getting scholarships from India annually has gone upto 100, the highest 'for any individual countryof Africa. Lastyearlndia donated 10,000 tonnesof wheat

flour and 500 tonnes of pulses for the Mauritians. During Prime Minister RajivGandhi's visit to Mauritius in July 1986, an agreement for an Indian creditof Rs100 million wassig ned. It comprises Rs 50 million on government-to-government credit and an Exim Bank credit of a similar amount. Indian assistance toMauritius so far totals Rs 300 million.Indo-Egyptian political and economic ties are old and historic and efforts arebeing madeto strengthen bilateral relations. The first meeting of the Indo-Egyptian Joint Commission was held in New Delhi in November 1985, TheEgyptian Deputy Prime Minister and Planning Minister Kamal El Ganzouri ledhis country's delegation to this meeting. The economic cooperation betwen Indiarelates to many subjects, Including industrialisation but emphasis is being given toagricultural research and production technology of some of the majorcrops of thetwo countries, A boost to Indo-Egyptian relations was given in June 1985 duringthe Indian Prime Minister's visit to Egypt. Earlier President Hosni Mubarak hadvisited India in 1983.

With Libya, India's relations have been cordial. The two countries have beenholding mutually beneficial negotiations from time to time on a wide range ofbilateral and international issues. The visit in April 1986 of the Indian ForeignMinister as leader of the non-aligned delegation to show the solidarity of theNonaligned Movement with Libya following the American aggression on thatcountry was a hallmark of Indo-Libyan friendship. The Indo-Libyan JointCommission has been extremely active in the last decade. Libyan authorities arefully satisfied with the work of the Indian companies in helping its economicdevelopment project relati ng to construction, roads, electric power, airports andpetro-chemicals, During Indira Gandhi's visit to Libya in April 1984, the twocountries agreed to upgrade their economic and technical cooperation and exploreways to achieve a higher level of political relationship.After a late start, Indo-Algerian ties are poised to become a model of SouthSouthcooperation, During the pastfiveyearsorso a considerable increase in economicand commercial relations between the two countries has been noticed. High-leveldelegations, including the Indo-Algerian Joint Commission meetings, have,enhanced the range and scope of Industrial and technical cooperation. A buildingconstruction, power, irrigation, roads, railways, airports, machine tools and petro-chemicals are the major fields of cooperation between the two countries.The latest meeting of the Joint Commission has indicated certain other projectslikely to fructify in the near future: pharmaceuticals, fertilisers, hydraulics, autoparts and blanket factory. India has already executed projects worth $250 millionand negotiations are under way with regard to additional projects worth about$200 million. During Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's visit to Algeria in June 1985it was agreed that India would buy half a million tonnes of crude from Algeriaand in return provide itwith greater assistance in setting up projects in the field ofscience and technology.

Although Indo-Tunisian economic and technical cooperation has taken firm shapein the past few years, the Indo-Tunisian Joint Commission keeps identifying newareas of cooperation. Exchange of economic delegations paves the way forpromoting further friendlyties between the two countries. Following PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi's visit in 1984, during which she held wide-ranging talkswith President Habib Bourguiba, the two countries agreed to expand economicand political cooperation and to work closely in the Non-aligned Movement.During the past few years, India has been trying to improve economic relationswith Morocco. An Indian delegation led bythe Ministerof State for Commerce,P.A. Sangma, visited Rabat in May 1985 for the Indo-Moroccan JointCommission meeting which had been set up under the Trade Agreement of 1981,In 1984, the two countries agreed to step up India's exports to Morocco and toestablish-some joint projects there. The projects are in the field of mining,fisheries, port development, railway equipment, mini cement plant and a carbonblack unit. India will also export trucks, buses, and frozen meat. India is atraditional buyer of phosphates from Morocco. A cultural protocol also existsbetweent the two countries.

In March 1985, India received the Moroccan Speaker, Ahmed Osman andthereafter the Moroccan Minister of Culture, Mohammed Benaissa as specialenvoys of King Hassan II. The Indian Prime Minister also sent an envoy toMorocco in September 1985 with a message for the King. In these circurfstances,it was unfortunate that Morocco chose to break off diplomatic relations with Indiaon October 1, 1985 following India's recognition of the Saharwi Arab DemocraticRepublic (SADR). It may be mentined that India's decision to recognise theSADR was taken because it was an issue of decolonisation and before Indianrecognition extensive consultations with all parties concerned, includingMorocco, had taken place. Moreover, this decision was in tune with India's policyof supporting freedom struggles and genuine liberation movements the worldover, as also with the policy of being guided by the decisions taken by thecompetent regional organisation, in this case the OAU, which admitted the SADRas an active member and of which the SADR was elected a Vice-President.Besides its ITEC programmes, which are of its own initiative, India alsoparticipates in other programmes of cooperation like the Colombo Plan and theSpecial Commonwealth African Assistance Plan (SCAAP) in their programmesfor. Africa. Underthe Colombo Plan, India has so far given technical assistancebyway of training places and making available the services of experts to variousmembercountries, a number of them from Africa. The main fields of training havebeen engineering, forestry, agriculture, power, fuel, public administration, socialservice, statistics, fisheries, cooperatives, irrigation, banking, finance, insurance,smallscale industries etc. The Commonwealth Africa Plan was inaugurated in1963. It provides for training places and deputation of experts to Ghana, Nigeria,Sierra Leone, Gambia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabweand Mauritius. More than 1,000 training places and the services of 200 expertshave been provided by India under SCAAP.

India also introduced a General Cultural Scholarship Scheme in 1949, underwhich morethan 400 scholarships have been awarded annually to nationals ofAfrica, including thosefrom Namibia and South Africa for post-matriculationstudies in arts, humanities and basic sciences. There is hardly any field of study inwhich African students in India are not to be found. Thousands of otherAfricanstudents also pay their way for education in India's places of learning becausethey find education in India economicalwhile being eminentlysuited tothe needsof theirrespective countries. A number of African governments also providescholarships to their nationals for studies in India, There are estimated to be20,000 African students in colleges and universities all over India, the bulk ofthem coming from Mauritius, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan andNigeria. New Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Aligarh, Pune, BombayCalcutta,Hyderabad and Bangalore are the Indian cities preferred by self-financing Africanstudents.Bilateralism is the keynote of India's economic cooperation, but multilateralismseems to bethe latesttrend. For this, India is cooperating with Africa throughinternational organisation. In December 1979, the Government of India concludedan agreementwith the UN Economic Commission forAfrica (ECA). India gave a

grant of Rs 5 million to the UN Trust Fund forAfrican Development, These fundsare used by the ECA to hireexperts and consultancy and training services indifferent fields. By entering into this agreement, India became the first non-African developing couintryto contributeto this Fund. The agreementgave amultilateral dimension to India's existing programmes of bilateral cowperationwith African countries. India further provided a sum totalling Rs 12.5 million tothe ECA for small-scale projects in countries like Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya,Angola, Senegal and Zimbabwe. The National Small Industries Corporation ofIndia Limited will be the competent authority handling these projects. Anotherimportant development is India 'becoming a member of the African DevelopmentFund and the African Development Bank. This enables India to take part inprojects funded by the Bank.Consultancy ServicesYet another field of economiccooperation which has earned India many laurelsand given it much satisfaction relates to the offer of technological surveys andconsultancy services. This programme being result-oriented has had somefarreaching success. Surveys are offered and conducted for ore extraction,hydroelectric power, railway modernisation and expansion, petrochemical andsteel, sugar and cement industries and water resources.The Metallurgical and Engineering Consultants (India) Limited (MECON) hasconducted consultancy service for two steel mills in Nigeria. The Steel Authorityof India Limited was associated with the reopening of Bomi Hill Mines in Liberiafor iron ore and for setting up a steel plant. The Water and Power ConsultancyServices has secured contracts for water supply projects in Nigeria, Ethiopia,Tanzania and Mauritius. Among the other projects that have been undertaken

and executed in theAfrican continent are: power generation and distribution plantin Kenya, cement unit in Nigeria, steel structurals and fabrication in Malawi andwater storage tanks in Ethiopia. Tanzania has had with Indian consultancy a stringof integrated units, sugar plant, textile mill, paper and pulp plant and bicycleassembling factory. In Zambia, too, a bicycle plant with a capacity of producing100,000 bicycles annually was inaugurated by President Kaunda in 1982. Indianconsultancy firms have also secured jobs concerning tyre retreading, corrugatedboard cartons, wire drawing, PVC cables, aluminium utensils and builders'material. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited has executed a commendable powerplant unit in Libya and Hindustan Machine Tools Limited has done machine toolscontracts in Kenya, Nigeria and Algeria. Technical assistance in hotels operationhas been extended to Tanzania and Egypt. Airports and feeder roads are comingup in many countries of Africa. The list is unending, if private sector companiesare also mentioned,In the matter of technical assistance and consultancy, a special mention may bemade of the work of the Indian railwaymen in Africa. Rail India Technical andEconomic Services Limited (RITES), a Government-owned undertaking, is aspecialist team dedicated to the innovative railroad network, It specialises infeasibility studies, staff training, manpower planning, systems design andmanagement consultancy. It has executed and has in hand presitigious railway

projects in Algeria, Ghana, Guinea, Mozambique, Nigeria, Zaire, Zambia andZimbabwe, all this in the last ten years or so. RITES has become a householdname in Africa.RITES took over the management of Nigerian Railway Corporation in 1979,when the railway system was close to the breaking point, In three years RITESteams helped in bringing about steady improvement in passenger services andamenities, larger freight and higher revenue. It has helped train hundreds ofNigerian railway staff to enable them to maintain the momentum. In Zimbabwemore than 40 Indian rail experts are helping Zimbabwe railways in maintenance,rehabilitation and training of staff, More th'an two thousand railwaymen fromdifferent parts of Africa have undergone training in the RITES establishments inIndia. Today RITES provides total consultancy in transport, including roads, portsand inland waters.The Indian Railway Construction Company Limited (IRCON), another publicsectoragency of the Indian Railways, specialises in the construction of newrailway lines, strengthening existing railway lines, railway electrification andtelecommunications installations. A relatively new organisation, it has handledjobs in Algeria and Nigeria.Telecommunications Consultants india Limited (TCIL) provides consultancyservices and executes projects in telecom fields in many countries of Africa,notably Mozambique, Nigeria and Somalia. Its consultancy is from concept tocompletion. In the field of electronics know-how, there isthe Electronics Tradeand Technology and Technology Development Corporation Limited (ET&T), Ithas provided consultancy to Algeria, Nigeria, Sudan, Egypt, Mozamibque, Kenyaand

Ethiopia. ET&T offers consultancy as well as material for transistor radios,television sets, quartz clocks and watches, telephone instruments etc inknockeddown condition. Apart from this it specialises in defence and aerospaceequipment.Special mention may also be made of the work of the National Small IndustriesCorporation Limited (NSIC), well known in practically every country of Africa,Devoted to the promotion of small industries in India, NSIC is gladly sharing itsexperience with the countries of Africa. India's experience of one millionindustrial units in the small-scale sector, which turn out 50 per cent of thecountry's productibn, could be greatly beneficial to African countries, most ofthem having small populations, NSIC offers turnkey projects in all kinds ofindustries, engineering, chemicals, electrical, food, textiles and leather.While India is offering sophisticated technology as well as assistance insmallscale industries, it isIndian consultancy in the field of food and agriculture,which is understandablygaining popularitythese days, Being a pribrity sector inalmost every African country, India's scope to help these countries is vast andvaried. West African countries in particular are looking to India in the vitallyimportant field of food self-sufficiency.India's programme of economic and technical cooperation with the continent ofAfrica is a modestone, but there is avast scope forexpansion, Given the fact that

tremendous amount of political goodwill and understanding exists between thepeoples of India and Africa, it is but natural that the ideas of South-Southcooperation and collective self-reliance as ordained by the Non-alignedMovement aregaining firm ground. At the same time, denied the economic andfinancial backing by the developed countries the developing countries are leftwith no option but to inculcate the spirit of partnership among themselves,Africans are now getting to know the fact of India's experience in developing itsown resources. The idea of sharing this experience is becoming a two-way traffic.Sharing of experience in reality means pooling together of resources, know-how,production methods, and markets. It is well understood that this self-reliantprocess is bound to open up a promising vista for the bulk of humanity living inAfrica and India. Constraints and bottlenecks disappearwhen there is a will onboth sides to cooperate.Interdependence is an economic necessity and is based on equality and free will,The UN Economic Commission for Africa has rightly said: "South-Southcooperation is being undertaken in a spirit of understanding and dignity,wholesomely devoid of the traditional dependence of the donor and reciepientpsychology of colonial relationship...."

APPENDIX IAfrican Tributes To Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira GandhiThe sudden death in New Delhi on May 27,1964, of Jawaharlal Nehru, the PrimeMinister of India, was widely mourned in Africa as in other parts of the world.African leaders paid glowing tributes to Nehru's support to the freedom strugglein Africa and his unceasing fight for the cause of world peace. A number ofAfrican countries also sent special envoys to the Indian capital to eitherparticipate in Nehru's funeral or offer condolences to the Indian Government andNehru's daughter Indira Gandhi. The following were some of the reactions: UAR:The news was received with profound shock in the United Arab Republic (Egypt).President Gamal Abdel Nasser ordered one week's national mourning. PresidentNasser, who regarded Nehru as a close personal friend and an ally in the policy ofnon-alignment, said his death was a "great loss to humanity", but that "his flame,lighting the way for humanity, will cQntinue to burn brilliantly".Nasser's statement said: "I saw him as leader, thinker, statesman and humanbeing, He was a flame lighting the way for India, Asia and humanity. With hisdeath his work has ended but the flame will continue to burn brilliantly."UAR newspapers devoted several pages to the late Prime Minister's life and workand praised his espousal of Arab causes and non-alignment. The last message sentabroad by Nehru was addressed to President Nasser, the Egyptian weekly Rose elYoussef reported on June 1. The weekly said the message concerned the visitwhich Nehru was to have made to Cairo on his return from the CommonwealthPrime Ministers' Conference in London. It said the document reached Cairo afterNehru's death.Youssef el-Sebal, Secretary-General of the Afro-Asian People's SolidarityOrganisation said Nehru would always shine throughout history for Afro-Asianpeople and for all humanity as a great man and valiant leader, Hussein Shefae,

UAR Vice-President, who flew to Delhi to represent President Nasser at thefuneral, said there that the Arabs had seldom been so grieved as they were onNehru's passing away. President Nasser's first impulsive decision on hearing thenews had been to decide to come to New Delhi to pay homage to his personalfriend, but he was running high fever.KENYA: The news of Nehru's sudden death came as a deep shock to the peopleof East Africa where his name had been a household word for decades. It wasregarded as the passing of an era in the annals of the freedom fight in Asia andAfrica, All flags in East Africa were flown at half mast and the Indian shops wereclosed. The Hindustani service of the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, which

started playing mourning tunes, was inundated with calls from all parts of Kenyaand individuals and associations wanting to announce their condolences.The English section of the KBC played the Indian National anthem afterflashingthe news of the death. The Daily Nation of Nairobi brought out a special mid-dayedition, a most unusual thing for it to do to pay its tribute to the great worldleader, Its offices were surrounded bythousands of Indians and Africans awaitingthe full news, On behalf of its readers, the editor of the East African Standard senta telegram of condolences to President S. Radhakrishnan.Prime Ministerof KenyaJomo Kenyattaon May28 led his entire team of Ministersin procession to the Indian High Commission where they signed the book ofcondolences on Nehru's death. Before doing so they observed a minute's silence inthe Prime Minister's office. At a public meeting Governor-General MalcolmMacdonald reflected the feelings of the assembly when he said: "The whole worldsees the flame of Jawaharlal Nehru's life extinguished,"Paying his tribute to Nehru, Kenyatta said:Seldom is it given to one man to bear the burden carried so ably and so patientlyas by this great patriot, and his name will be remembered for ever throughout theworld. He was the only man who could have steered his country through all theperils arising after independence and led it triumphantly to its present proud placeamong the foremost nations of the world. He always labou red unceasingly for hispeople with no thought of self,and yet he found time to help other nations less fortunate than his own.Those of uswho were fortunate enough to have known him personally will alwayscarry with us the imperishable memory of a great statesman and a very humanman, the friend of all who needed him and true follower in the footstepsof an immortal Gandhi.UGANDA: The Uganda National Assembly adjourned on May 27 as a mark ofrespectto Nehru after the members of Government and Opposition parties hadpaid glowing tributes ho him. Prime Minister Milton Obote asked the members tostand in silence for two minutes in memory of "a great statesman who had been agreat believer in the parliamentary and constitutional system". Flags were flownat halfmast. May28was declared a dayof national mourning and all Governmentoffices were closed. Obote appealed to federal and district governments andprivate firms to follow the Central Government's lead. On behalf of theOpposition, Gaspare Oda said that Nehru's death was a loss not only to India but

to the whole world. He was a devoted nationalistwho foughtforthe emancipationand freedom of all subject nations. "His name will shine with golden letters as agreat statesman who was working not only for India but for the cause of the wholeworld", he said. NYASALAND (MALAWI): Dr Hastings Banda, the PrimeMinister of Nyasaland, said in Zomba on May 29 that the independencemovements in Africa and Asia were there only because of Nehru and Gandhi, In atribute to Nehru, he said in the

National Assembly: "All of us know what Pandit Nehru did, His passing awayremoves from the political scene, both nationally in India and internationally, agreat figure.TANGANYIKA (TANZANIA): In Dar es Salaam, flags flew at half-mast on allGovernment buildings, There was a stream of callers at the Indian HighCommission to offer condolences, including Prime Minister Julius Nyerere,GHANA: In a broadcast, President Kwame Nkrumah paying his tribute to Nehrusaid:Rarely have the qualities of wisdom, courage, humanity and great learning foundsuch perfectfusion and expression in one individual astheydid in Pandit Nehru,Soft of speech but forthright in expression, his voice was heard in the councils ofthe world in defence of freedom and the dignity of man. He will long beremembered for his championship of the Afro-Asian cause and hissupport for the ideals of-freedom, unity and world peace,Hissympathy and understanding of the problems of Africawas a greatsource ofencouragement to all of us who have been engaged in the struggle for theliberation and unity of Africa.By Mr Nehru's death the Commonwealth has lost a Prime Minister of outstandingcourage and calibre. The people of India have lost a great and illustrious leaderand the world an eminent statesman,A six-man Ghana delegation headed by K.A. Ofori-Atta, Ghana's Minister ofJustice, arrived in New Delhi on June 5to convey President Nkrumah's messagesof condolence tothe Indian President, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri andIndira Gandhi,ETHIOPIA: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia in a telegram to Indira Gandhiexpressed "deep grief at the passing away of an illustrious father and our closefriend", "His leadership and statesmanship would long be remembered", he added.Ethiopian Prime Minister Aklilou Habtewold and acting Foreign Minister KetemaYifru also sent telegrams of condolences, It was later stated in Addis Ababa thatthe Emperor had deputed his Prime Minister to attend Nehru's funeral but hecould not do so because of shortage of time, TUNISIA: The National Assemblyobserved a minute's silence on May 27, AlAmal, official organ of Tunisia's rulingNeo Destour Party, said in an editorial that Tunisia did not share all views ofNehru. But what was beyond anydoubtwas that hewas a political genius, a manfaithful to his principles, profoundly and sincerely attached to freedom, peace andpeaceful coexistence among human beings regardless of their race, their religion,their language, and their civilisation. For the whole of m lnkind, his death is aloss." Tunisia sent its Foreign Minister Mongi Slim to attend the funeral.

SENEGAL: President Leopold Senghorsaid the death of Prime Minister Nehruhad been strongly felt in Senegal where the deceased had been rpgarded as one ofthe

great champions of the two countries' common struggle for peace and liberty.NIGERIA: The Nigerian Prime Minister, Sir AbubakerTafawa Belewa, in atelegram to President Radhakrishnan recalled Nehru's visit to Nigeria in 1962. Hesaid Nigerians would always remember his "shining qualities of wisdom,simplicity and humilityaswell as his deep understanding of human problems"."We shall miss his wise counsel in the comity of nationsand especially in theCommonwealth", he said, In Kaduna, Northern Nigeria, the Regional Premier, SirAhmadu Bello said that in the death of Nehru "India has lost a father". In atelegram sent to President Radhakrishnan, SirAhmadu said the Commonwealthhad lost one of its able and renowned democratic leaders and the world achampion of human liberty, U PPER VOLTA: President Yameogo of UpperVolta expressed his country's "deep sense of stupor" at the death of Nehru. Hesaid Nehru personified "the hero of national liberation and had created the mythof an Indian symbol of peace", SOUTH AFRICA: The sudden death of Nehrucame as a shock to the 600, 000 Indians in South Africa, Indian traders closedtheir shops to mourn his death, Indian women were seen weeping in the streets inJohannesburg. In Durban, Dr Monty Naicker, President of the South AfricanIndian Congress, founded by Mahatma Gandhi, sent a message of condolence toIndira Gandhi. Dr Naicker said the democratic world had "lost one of the greatesttorch-bearers of freedom of our time".Mrs Manilal Gandhi, daughter-in-law of Mahatma Gandhi said at Phoenix, thatshe and Nehru "were very very great friends. I shall be praying for him today". InCape Town South African papers paid tribute to Nehru in theireditorials. TheRand DailyMailsaid: "Pandit Nehru wasoneof the great men of modern Asia-aman of practical idealism'" The Cape Timer:"Jawaharlal Nehru was... a statesmanwith a wide view, a deep sense of history. He was to show...that moral influencecan be powerful even where a country has no atom bombs," The Natal Mercurywrote: "His death removes from the international scene a controversial butnonetheless stupendous figure." Cape Town's Afrikaans-lang uage DieBurgersaid: "He had a powerful influence on the history of the modern world."At a public meeting held in New Delhi to mourn Nehru's death a number ofvisiting African leaders paid their tribute to the departed Indian statesman, UARVicePresident Shafae said Nehru was intimately identified "with all that is best inmodern India and all that is representative of it", In international affairs, Nehru'swasthevoice of sanity, morality and hope, he said. Shafae said men of Nehru'scalibrewere rarelyborn in theworld, The sea of humanitythat had turned up to payits homage to him at the funeral was indicative of the affection in which Nehruwas held by the Indian people,The Foreign Minister of Tunisia, Mongi Slim, said his people considered Nehrutheir elder brotherand Nehru had inspired them in the difficult task of shaping andbuilding the nation. The death of Gandhiji gave to Nehru and India strength toovercome communal passions. "Let Mr Nehru's death give strength to those who

have to shoulder the tremendous responsibility of building a nation devoted topeace and brotherhood", he said.

Kalule Settal, Uganda Minister, said the news of Nehru's death was received inEast Africa with great shock. The Uganda Prime Minister had described Nehru'spassing away as a personal loss. He said Nehru was the torch-bearer offreedo mof all nations which had newly achieved self-government and which werestruggling for freedom.L. Brahimi,Algerian envoy said the Algerian people shared the grief of the Indianpeople who suffered a terrible blow in the death of Nehru. He offered "sincerestcondolence and sympathy" on behalf of President Ben Bella and the people ofAlgeria, He said Nehru was"as much ours as he was yours. We have the greatestadmiration and love for him. We wish India should continue to be a great nationin the world and continue to play a leading role aswas done under the leadershipof Mr Nehru."Moving tributes were paid to Nehru as a world statesman and for his contributionto peace and freedom of colonial peoples at a meeting of the AfroAsian group atthe UN Headquarters in NewYork on May29. Orhan Erlap of Turkey was in thechair. Speaker after speaker spoke glowingly of Nehru as a humanitarian, idealist,man of action and fighter for the cause of freedom and justice.The entire Afro-Asian group stood up for a moment in silence in homage to thedeparted statesman and asked the Chairman to convey to Indira Gandhi, theGovernment of India and the people the deepest sorrow and condolences of theAfro-Asian group.Africa Mourns Indira GandhiAs with Jawaharlal Nehru, the sudden and most unexpected death of PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi on October 31,1984 was received with profound shock.The manner of her assassination left the world leaders and the entire internationalcommunity in a sense of disbelief. A number of leaders paid tributes tothe greatIndian leader.Paying his homage to the departed leader, Paul Lusaka, President of the UNGeneral Assembhly said:Mrs Indira Gandhi was born in one of the cradles of the concept and practice ofnon-alignment. The daughter of one of the founders of the Non-alignedMovement, she herself worked tirelessly to help nurture the movement in aninternational environment which was and unfortunately still is, clouded in manyways by East-West rivalry. It is significant that she died while occupying theChairmanship of the group of non-aligned states.Her faith in the United Nations as arbiter of inter-state conflict, and the mostimportant centre for harmonising the actions of nations, cannot be challenged. Forasshe herself said, firm faith in the United Nations iscentral to the non-aligned.The aim is the same, to maintain peace by removing thesources of tension and to bring out the humanity in human beings.

Javier Perez de Cuellar, the Secretary-General of the United Nations said:

Mrs Gandhi was a highly respected figure worldwide and at the United Nations,which she supported staunchly following in-the tradition of her illustrious father,Pandit Nehru. She represented on the international scene the spirit of moderation,tolerance and understanding which is so vitally needed in theworld today, Theuntimely passing of Mrs Gandhi is a great lossto India, to the United Nations and to me personally.The following were the reactions from Africa:BOTSWANA: President Q.KJ. Masire said: "The tragic death of. Her ExcellencyIndira Gandhi has deprived the world of a great stateswoman and a champion ofpeace. Indira Gandhi will be particularly remembered for her work and closecooperation with the Commonwealth and the Non-aligned Movement."it is unfortunafe that great leaders lose their lives prematurely."MALAGASY: President Didier Rasiraka said: "lam convinced that her name willremain attached to the ideals of peace, social progress and non-alignment."SEYCHELLES: President Albert Rene said:The death of Mrs Gandhi undoubtedly constitutes a heavy loss not only to thepeople of India but to all peace-loving peoples of the world and progressivemankind. During her tenure of office the eminent qualities of statesmanshipdisplayed by her are an undeniable proof that she has been one of the mostoutstanding leaders of her country. it is needless to stress the progress attained bythe people of India during such ashort period of time in history, her totalcommitment to that cause is unequalled. Beyond India's borders Mrs Gandhi willbe mostly remembered for her relentless endeavours in achieving a newinternational economic order, detente, disarmament and world-widepeace.We have lost a great leader and friend and heractionswill be a sourc ..,f inspirationfor many generations to come.TANZANIA: President Julius Nyerere said:"We in Tanzania recognised and acknowledged her as a friend of Africa as wellas a devoted supporter of the liberation of this continent from the colonialism andracism. We know also how important was her contribution tothe struggle of the third world for justice and peace.Her chairmanship of the Non-aligned Movement was a recognition of her greatabilities and the world's need of them. The cause of world peace and jus-

tice was being dealt a heavy blow by this assassination.MrsGandhi'swhole lifewasone of serviceto hercountryand to humanity. Ourtributeto her must be a renewed commitment to unity, within India and within thethird world, and to the struggle for human dignity, justice and peacethroughout the world.TUNISIA: Mrs Wassila Bourguiba, the First lady of Tunisia, said: "History willrecall the achievements of this lady, who has done a great deal for her people, forthe peoples of the third-world, and for the whole humanity.'UGANDA: President Milton Obote said: "Indira Gandhi was not only the leaderof the largest democracy in the world, but was also the elected leader of thestruggling people in the Non-aligned Movement,

"I join you in mourning a most outstanding lady who was one of the greatestleaders in modern times. She made her mark on the Indian political scene throughthe support of the people,"

APPENDIX IIIndo-African Seminar on CooperationAn effort to give a boost to the Government of India's efforts to promotecooperation with Africa was made by the Federation of Indian ExportOrganisations (FIEO), an apex body of Indian Exporters. With the blessings of theIndian Ministry of Commerce, itorganised in New Delhi in September 1984 anIndoAfrican Seminar on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation, which wasattended by, apart from 400 Indian delegates, 45 delegates from 15 countries ofAfrica.The first seminar of its kind and size, the Indian and African delegates representedgovernments and para-statal organisations, trade, industry, chambers of commerceand trade associations. The African participants came from Algeria, Botswana,Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi,Mauritius, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, all of them importanttrading partners of India.The theme of the seminar, which was inaugurated by President Zail Singh, was toshare information and experiences on:-policies'and progress on economic development with special referenceto investment and fiscal policies;-international trade with special reference to import-export policies andexport promotion measures;-the role of small-scale and cottage industry sectors in industrial andeconomic development, with special reference to support measures' and-the contribution of technical cooperation and consultancy services inagricultural, industrial and technological progress.After detailed discussion lasting five days consensus was reached on thefollowing:(1) The need for continuous updating of commercial intelligence andinformation and its speedy dissemination taking advantage of the, latesttechnological advances in communications such as computers, electronicmail and satellite communication to promote trade flows,(2) Development of small-scale industries by'updating technologies oftraditional crafts and tools was possible without loss of productivity andefficiency in a large.number of consumer products manufacturing.Small-scale industries management and operations have reached a highdegree of sophistication.Small-scale industries, provided better employment opportunities and by takingindustries to rural areas helped prevent industrial city slums andpollution and created a framework for improved quality of life.

(3) Industrial support and technology delivery services were at the core of modernand advanced industrial structure. Even where large-scale industrial units were

established their efficient and full capacity performance presented challenges.Today India and Africa have developed their own indigenous capacities forindustrial operations, expansion and renovation and increased cooperation in thesefields was of crucial importance.(4) Agriculture is and will remain a dominant sector of the economies of Africancountries and India for a long time, The climatic and soil conditions in Africa andIndia presented many similarities. The seminar discussions highlighted variedpossibilities of cooperation in increased food production, food grains storage andequitable distribution, availability of improved varieties of seed, farmmanagement, dairy farming and exchange of experience and research material inimportant non-food crops like cotton, silk, cocoa, coffee, tea, cashewnut, oil seedsand an immense variety of forest-based commercial products like, gums, resins,fruits etc. which often were responsible for sizable earnings of foreign exchangeof Indian and African economies,(5) Industrialjointventures have carved out a useful role in self-reliant industrialdevelopment in India and Africa. We have gained much experience of jointestablishment and economic operation of large industrial units over the last twodecades. A new self-confident class of industrial entrepreneurs, technologists andbusiness and financial management has come into existence in Africa and India,Cooperation in joint ventures should be expanded to cover marketing and exportsectors. The seminar recommended detailed study for standards, patent, royaltyand brand name laws and regulations and conclusion of avoidance of doubletaxation agreements.(6) It was important to identify priority sectors foir scientific and technologicalcooperation in view of the high cost of research and development. Updatingtraditional skills, new and renewable sources of energy, pollution control andpreservation of environment and ecological balance and energy saving andconservation, today demanded overriding attention. Successful transfer of know-how developed in laboratories and R&D establishments to the farm and factorywas the biggest challenge.(7) The seminar urged strengthening of ties in the field of banking services,institutional finance, communication and transport network to increase trade flowsbetween Africa and India,(8) Tourism was now recognised as an industry and was an important foreignexchange earner. It encouraged more people-to-people contacts andfamiliarisation with social and economic conditions. The seminar .greed thatgreater tourist flows would help assist economic, trade and technical cooperation

(9) The seminar strongly stressed the need for forging closer contactsand relationships between non-governmental institutions, organisations andassociations engaged in trade, industry and services fields e.g.chambers of commerce and industry, trade development centres, exh-ibitions andtrade fairs, organisations and associations of professionals liketechnologists, engineers, architects, university professors etc.A. Perspective of Cooperation

As to the perspective of cooperation, the seminar pointed out that India and theAfrican countries have many socio-economic characteristics in common. They arepredominantly agriculturalwith large rural and semi-urban populations, They alsoshare a common colonial past, Similar political experiences in the past andpresent-day difficulties in their effort to develop rapidly make them ideal partnerswho can help one another in their programme of all-round economic growth.Inview ofthe difficulties faced bycountries of the South in the matter of trade andaid from the North, there is urgent need to build autonomous developmentstructuresamong themselves in an effort to become self-reliant in the matter ofscientific, technological and industrial development. There is, therefore, need toreinforce mutual relationships to foster collective self-reliance.While collective self-reliance should be promoted, such cooperation should not beat the cost of any real benefit flowing from existing cooperation arrangements thatdifferent countries of the region have forged on inter-regional, regional,subregional or bilateral basis.In their effort to forge close links with one another, India and the countriesofAfrica should identify complementarities in their economic goals and plans andin their overall resource positions, Significant complementarities have beenlocated among countries of theSouth which could be useful in building up intra aswell as inter-regional cooperative structures for development. This could prove tobe a useful alternative to developing countries who wish to reduce theirdependence on the North without sacrificing their growth rate.This effort at mutual cooperation hastoextend to organisations and institutionsoutside the Government, Besides governmental and non-governmental agencies,entrepreneurs and businessmen have a vital role to play. In the ultimate analysis itis they who can translate the idea of close cooperation into a meaningful reality,B. Specific Areas of Cooperation!. Science and TechnologyScience and Technology form an important force for accelerating social andeconomic development. Technology should not be viewed in the narrow sense ofsomething related to manufacturing activities. It is concerned with all aspects of

human life, that is, agriculture, family plan ning, irrigation, energy, protection ofthe environment etc. Science and Technology should start at the demand level andprovide answers to the basic problems-faced by the people,In the development of technology, the countries of the Southwill haveto evolve acareful mixof availabletechnology and indigenous capabilities. Every country willhave toworkout atechnological plan best suitedto itsown genius and conditions.Science and Technology should not be transplanted in a mechanical way. Theyshould be integrated with their socio-economic environment, India can share withAfrican countries its experience of developing technology which is suited to itspeople and its soclo-economic environment. The manner in which thetechnologies were developed and transferred through various methods could be ofinterest to African countries,In the developing countries there is need for technologies which will optimiseboth employm'ent as well as output per unit of investment. Developing countries

should, therefore, think in terms of labour-intensive technologies, But, in thename of appropriate and alternative technologies, the door should not be closed toadvanced technologies, as the latterare the motive force for bring Ing about atechnological revolution.Technologies offered should be target-oriented and take into consideration thepotential of the receiving country to absorb the technologies. Even the so-called"appropriate" or "relevent" technologies themselves may prove unsuitable in somecountries because the technology needed by any country is determined by itssocio-economic conditions and its special characteristics,Technological linkages can be forged on the basis of studies by multidisciplinaryteams of technocrats, financial experts and researchers who will be able toindicate possibilities of areas of useful cooperation,In the sharing of information, it would be worthwhile to share experiences offailures alsb, besides that of successes, The mistakes made by some countries inthe pursuit of objectives desired should be known so that circumstances leading tosuch mistakes are avoided by others.There is need for an institutional mechanism for development of science andtechnology integrated with the needs of society. Capabilities in the area ofconsultancy, technology transfer etc. need to be built up.There is a need to build up capabilities for absorption and up gradation oftechnology, and training in specific areas. Suitable traditional technology shouldbe upgraded to meet modern needs.Cooperation in the area of Science and Technology should include: -organising oftraining courses in the management of technology;-exchange of information with regard to the nature of av ilabletechnologies or areas of improvement and innovative technologiesII. Industrial Support and Technology Delivery ServicesTechnology Delivery Services, which cover, consultancy services and industrial

support services in the form of standardisation, testing and quality control, andinformation and training, areessential prerequisites for obtaining the benefitswhich science and technology offer.In the process of transferof technology, it is essential to bear in mind technicaland socio-economic compatibility of the country to which the transfer is beingmade, Technology transfer should include training of personnel (imparting ofknow-how and skills) and not merely transfer of plant and equipment, Thetraining imparted in developing countries needs to be job-oriented.The mechanism for cooperation in this area can be on a bilateral or multilateralbasis. India and African countries can also explore the possibilities of obtainingassistance from international agencies such as UNDP, FAO, UNIDO, etc. Indiahas made substantial progress In the areas of construction consultancy,particularly relating to infrastructural development i.e. power, irrigation, transport(especially railways), In the area of engineering consultancy'also India hasdeveloped a training package which could be of interest to participating countries.Cooperation in this area can be atgovernmental, institutional or individual level.In their effort towards industrial development, developing countries could'

consider earmarking a small part of the product or service cost or profit fortechnology delivery services,Il. Developing Small-Scale IndustriesIn view of the constraints of capital and other resources in developing countries,small-scale industries become crucial for industrial and economic developmentand in the efforts towards achieving self-reliance. They generate employmentopportunitiesto large sections of the rural and semi-urban populations and makeuse of local resources and talents, Small-scale industries also meet local demands,and help in the development of entrepreneurial skills among the common people.They are labour-intensive and also get integrated with the larger industrial sectorin the country. India's experience in the area of small-scale industries is unique inthe developing world which could beof use to African countries. All small-scaleindustries must be "bankable" projects. To build up the small scale sector,developing countries need to set up entrepreneurial development programmes,IV. Industrial Development and Joint VenturesThere is vast scope for cooperation in the area of industrial development betweenthe African countries and India. The extent of cooperation will increase if theexisting communication gap among these countries is reduced. An importantmeans of cooperation would be establishment of joint ventures.To increase cooperation among the countries of Africa and India, there is need toIdentify specific projects. A two-fold action is suggested: (i) identify specificprojects; and (Ii) identify centralised, or nodal agencies which will take on thework of cooperation in industrial development, and in joint ventures,

V. Food Production and Agricultural PracticesThe critical position of agriculture in the economies of India and the Africancountries needs to be emphasised. Economic and social progress cannot beattained without development of the agricultural/rural economies in thesecountriesIndia's greatest success in recent years has been in the field of agriculture. India'sexperience, both in the matter of setting up agriculture-integ rated institutes andagriculture-relevant technology cQuld be of direct relevance to a number ofAfrican countries,There can be linkages between agricultural research institutes in African countriesand in India, Jointventures in the field of agriculture and agro-based industriescould be considered.For further coopertion there is an urgent need for building up a stronginfrastructure related to agricultural development,Vt. TradeTrade has to be a two~way flow. India needs increasing quantities ofsemiprocessed and processed minerals, industrial raw materials and products.Likewise, many African countries will stand to benefit from an association of thevast Indian market with their products.If trade flows are to increase, infrastructural facilities such as shipping andtransport, air links, communications, marketing etc, need to be developed,

Lack of detailed information, and also lack of familiaritywith conditions in Indiaand in the African countries hamper the efforts to come closer in the matter oftrade. The lack of information particularly relates to the existing political andeconomic realities of each country.Traditional linkages of many countries associated with their colonial experienceinhibit or prevent meaningful trade or cooperation among many developingcountries. In many cases, the economies are very much linked with those of themetropolitan countries.Flexible cooperative links should be forged in relations to certain identifiedcommodities, products or projects-with a general consensus and understandingamongst the countries on major economic Issues, and a ready desire to shareappropriate technologies among themselves.The dominant role of international financial institutions like the IMF, the WorldBank etc., has an important political influence which goes to constrainSouthSouth cooperation.Bilateral exchange of goods and services may provide a workable solution to theproblem of lack of hard currency. Tariff, preferences, long-term planning andpackage deals could go a long way in strengthening trade flows.Trilateral trade agreements such as those existing between India, Egypt andYugoslavia could be a model for close trade relations among developingcountries,

C. Suggestions and RecommendationsThe Indo-African seminar made some suggestions and recommendations, whichsound rather ambitious, but deserve serious consideration, It said that a researchteam should be formed which should try and analyse in detail some of theconstraints of South-South cooperation, particularly with reference to therelationship of different African countries with India. This team could alsoindicate the areas in which the traditional colonial linkages should be broken, orthe areas in which the existing export and import patterns could be substitutedwith new arrangements between India and the African countries.There was need to create a set-up for continuous follow-up in areas of bilateraland multi-lateral cooperation amongst developing countries on the one hand, andbetween India and Africa on the other.A centre for science and technology for non-aligned countries might be set upwhere experiences could be shared. It would be a common house for exchange ofinformation.Institutions might be established for joint R&D of industrial know-how andtechnology with facilities for training of nationals of member-countries.A multi-disciplinary consortium might be organised to initiate an effort towardseconomic independence. Technological linkages could be forged wheretechnocrats, financial experts and researchers could get together to examine areaswhere there were possibilities of cooperation.Linkages could be developed to function as clearing house and guidance centresat the small-scale industry level for transfer of technology and skills from onecountry to another on a bilateral and multi-lateral basis. Linkages should be

developed not only between governments, but also at the institutional andenterprise levels, and among non-governmental organisations.Specialised financial institutions and trading house should be established inmember-countries to identify, promote and develop business relationships relatingto bilateral and international trade, Trade promotion offices might be establishedin India and African countries.A common data bank, a common programme for gathering, storing, anddisseminating information on a day-to-day basis was needed. The informationcollected should be on a global basis and not confined to information pertaining toIndia and African countries alone,The central banks of all the member-countries should get together and examinetechniques and devices relating to the foreign exchange problem faced bysome ofthe countries in the region.There should be company-to-company dialogue in operational terms. Detailedfollow-up on the part of individual companies, individual organisations such asFIEO, with their counterparts in African countries was necessary for a meaningfulpattern of trade to evolve.A committee may be constituted byFlEO to examine in detail matters such as thenature of the technology needed by individual countries in the African region andits delivery system.92