Luanda, Nov 10 (PTI): President Droupadi Murmu on Monday said there were “immense” opportunities to strengthen trade, investment and people-to-people relations between India and Angola as she urged the local Indian community here to take an “active” part in these initiatives.
Murmu is on a four-day state visit to Angola, the first by an Indian head of state to this African country that is located along the Atlantic Ocean. She was speaking to the Indian diaspora during a reception held for the Indian community here on the third day of her visit.
An estimated 8,000 Indians live in Angola and are engaged in a wide variety of businesses and work. Vidhu P Nair, the Indian Ambassador to Angola, said the diaspora here hailed from virtually all the regions and states of India.
The President said Angola is an “important partner” in India’s energy security, and India, in turn, is one of Angola’s “top” trade partners. “Last year, India-Angola bilateral trade crossed the historic mark of USD 5 billion,” she said at the reception hosted by the Indian Ambassador.
India, she mentioned, was a major supplier of pharmaceuticals, food products, refined petroleum, automobiles, and machinery to Angola. Indian companies are active in diverse sectors such as retail, tourism, diamonds, energy, infrastructure, hospitality, and agriculture, and these investments have contributed to Angola’s economic growth and have created employment opportunities, she said.
Calling the Indian diaspora a “bridge” between the two nations, Murmu said there were “immense” opportunities to further strengthen trade, investment, and people-to-people links between the two nations as she urged the members of the Indian community to take an “active part” to realise the shared prosperity of the two countries.
She called the Indian diaspora an “inseparable” part of the developmental changes in India, adding that the country welcomed their ideas and investment proposals.
The President lauded the entrepreneurial spirit, hard work, and professional excellence of the local Indians that has contributed “significantly” to Angola’s economic growth and development.
Murmu said India greatly values its relationship with its African partners, particularly Angola and this partnership was rooted in equality, mutual trust, and shared aspirations for progress. She underlined that India was a fastly progressing economy in the world and the aim was to create a “developed India” (Viksit Bharat) by 2047, and hence the policies and schemes of the country were inspired by this idea.
The President added that India’s engagement with Africa has evolved under the framework of the India–Africa Forum Summit (IAFS), adding that India looked forward to hosting the next IAFS Summit soon. PTI NES RD RD
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