Diplomatist Special Report - Tanzania Tanzania 2018 | Page 44

Tanzania & India:
All weather allies
T
anzania and India have enjoyed traditionally close,
friendly and co-operative relations. From the 1960s
to the 1980s, the political relationship involved shared
commitments to anti-colonialism, non-alignment as well as
desire for South-South Cooperation and close cooperation
in international fora. The then President (Mwalimu) Julius
Nyerere was held in high esteem in India; he was conferred
the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding
in 1974, and the International Gandhi Peace Prize in 1995.
In the post-Cold War era, India and Tanzania both initiated
economic reform programmes around the same time alongside
developing external relations aimed at broader international
political and economic relations, developing international
business linkages and promoting foreign investment. In recent
years, India-Tanzania ties have evolved into a modern and
pragmatic relationship with sound political understanding,
diversifi ed economic engagement, people to people contacts
in the fi eld of education and healthcare, and development
partnerships in capacity building training, concessional credit
lines and grant projects.
Visit of the Prime Minister of India to Tanzania
Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi paid a State Visit
to Tanzania from 9-10 July 2016. He met the President
of Tanzania, Mr. John Magufuli for bilateral talks after a
ceremonial welcome and interacted with Solar Mamas and
the Indian community. During the visit, the following MOU/
agreements were signed:
44 •TANZANIA
1. MOU on Cooperation in the fi eld of water resource
management and development
2. Agreement on Joint Action Plan between National
Small Industries Corporation of India and Small Industries
Development Organisation of Tanzania
3. Visa waiver agreement for Diplomatic/Offi cial passport
holders (entered into force in December 2016)
4. MOU for the Establishment of Vocational Training
Centre at Zanzibar
5. Line of Credit of US $92 million for rehabilitation and
improvement of water supply system in Zanzibar
Other recent visits
The then Vice President of Tanzania, Mr. Mohammed
Gharib Bilal attended the India Africa Forum Summit-III in
New Delhi on 28-29 October 2015. He also held a bilateral
meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, on
29 October 2015 and received the Minister of State, Mr.
Dharmendra Pradhan, for a meeting on 28 October 2015.
The Summit adopted a Joint Declaration titled ‘Partners
in Progress: Towards a Dynamic and Transformational
Development Agenda’, and Framework for Strategic
Cooperation between India and Africa. Zanzibar’s Second
Vice President Ambassador Seif Ali lddi visited New Delhi
and Kerala in March 2017 for various working level and
business interactions. Mr. Charles Mwijage, Minister of
Trade, Industry & Investment, visited New Delhi for the
4th Joint Trade Committee meeting in August 2017. Dr.