Diplomatist Magazine Africa Day Special 2018

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC). ITEC emerged out of a meeting in 1963 convened by the Indian government with the heads of its trade missions from Africa and West Africa to examine ways to improve economic and technical cooperation with the continent. To this day, ITEC remains an integral component of India’s Development Initiative, delivering development assistance to countries across Africa. In principle, India’s international stance was geared towards promoting greater South- South cooperation and cultivating a greater voice for itself. However, with the end of the Cold War, India’s foreign policy needed to be readjusted to take into account the new developments in the global arena. With the advent of economic liberalisation in the 1990s, India’s policy-makers realised the importance of building a foreign policy that resonated with its economic ambitions. Opening up the country to investments from outside also meant strengthening external relations that could help India realise its political and economic potential. India has always pushed for a multilateral world order and, just as in the past, relations with Africa are now based on a shared mutual interest in ﬁ ghting against the inequities of the global order. This time, the common direction is to not only address underdevelopment and poverty due to an unbalanced global economic system, but to also focus on the economic and developmental concerns of "finding export markets, and attracting foreign capital and technological know-how" (Singh 2007). Current Scenario In the twenty-ﬁ rst century, India–Africa relations have moved beyond those based merely on ‘ideas and services’ to a more pragmatic relationship that involves India’s political, economic and security interests in convergence with, and responding to Africa’s developmental needs. Today, India provides not only a viable model of economic growth appreciable by the developing world, it is also a shining example of democratic consolidation and sustainability, rare in most post-colonial countries. One hundred and eight years after Mahatma Gandhi ﬁ rst went to Africa, Prime There are immense opportunities for collaboration and cooperation between India and Africa in the healthcare sector. India, in particular, has witnessed massive transformation in its domestic healthcare sector in the last couple of decades. Minister Manmohan Singh, speaking at ﬁ rst India–Africa Forum Summit in April 2008, elaborated on the theme of the growing and multifaceted India–Africa relationship. He noted that this was a "new chapter in the long history of civilisational contact, friendship, and cooperation between India and Africa," and the goal was to achieve "economic vibrancy, peace, stability, and self-reliance." He further mentioned that he wished to see the twenty-ﬁ rst century as the "century of Asia and Africa, with the people of the two continents acting together to promote inclusive globalisation" (Mathews, 1997). Using the historical platform as a way to consolidate contemporary relations with Africa, India’s current foreign policy relations with the continent are about reinventing and rejuvenating the old relationship. India can also claim moral high ground as it has never subjugated or inhabited Africa and, further, premise its relationship with the continent on the grounds of solidarity. According to ofﬁ cial documentation, India’s contemporary Africa policy aligns with a confluence of mutual interests relating to achieving justice in the global order, aimed at increasing the advantage and inﬂ uence of their respective global positions and promoting a new international order. It is worth mentioning that India’s relations with Africa are unique in one respect - it consists of three types of engagement: India deals with Africa as a continent; it also has direct relations with the African Union (AU); and thirdly, it has relations with individual African countries on a bilateral basis (Tarling, 1992). This kind of variety is not perceptible in India’s relations with any other region. However, it needs to be noted that Africa is a continent and India is only one country. Hence, there is a danger in generalising about Indo–Africa relations, and this analysis does not intend to put forth the complex and nuanced relationship between India and individual African countries (Singh, 2007). Global Health Care Outlook The challenges of providing and funding health care around the globe have not changed much over the last few years, and they are 2018 • Africa Day Special • 43

Diplomatist Magazine Africa Day Special 2018 | Page 47