Malawi on 06 July 1964 when Malawi attained
Independence. The relationship has grown
steadily at both the Government and people
to people level and gained impetus after the
reopening of the High Commission in Malawi in
March 2012, after a gap of nearly 20 years.
High level visits from both sides have further
cemented ties including those of Shri Hamid
Ansari, the then Vice President of India to
Malawi in January 2010, late H.E. Dr. Bingu
Wa Mutharika, President of Malawi, to India in
November 2010, the Malawian Foreign Minister,
Trade Minister, Education Minister and the ICT
Minister in 2017, the Minister of Energy and the
Vice President of Malawi to India in 2018 and of
Shri Venkaiah Naidu, Hon’ble Vice President of
India, to Malawi in November 2018.
The India-Africa Forum Summits(IAFS)
have served to further energise the Africa-India
partnership, including with Malawi. India
endeavours to share its developmental experience
with other developing countries under the overall
rubric of South-South cooperation and this
approach has, by and large, been welcomed. For
instance, under the Cotton Technical Assistance
Programme for Africa, 200 participants and 25
Trainers from Malawi benefi ted. India has set
up a Skill School for Apparel Manufacturing in
Malawi, with requisite equipment and trained
Master Trainers and the school has the capacity
to train 20 Malawians at a time. Besides this,
8 • INDIA-MALAWI • 2019
India off ers ITEC, IAFS and ICCR scholarships
to facilitate capacity building in Malawi. In
2017-18, 113 slots were utilised out of 115 ITEC
slots, 73 IAFS scholarships were utilised by
government offi cials and 17 fully paid long-term
ICCR educational scholarships were allocated for
Malawian students. These contribute in no small
measure to India’s soft power projection, creating
a positive image among the local populace.
Another positive development has been that in
the last few years India has become the preferred
destination for medical treatment for Malawians
due to state of the art and aff ordable treatment
and post-treatment facilities, further contributing
to strengthening people to people ties. The Pan
African E-Network for TeleMedicine and Tele
Education has also been availed of by Malawians.
Both countries have signed a number of
MOUs for cooperation in the fi elds of Agriculture
and allied sectors, Rural Development, Mineral
Resources Development, Health and Medicine
and a Protocol for Consultations between the
two Foreign Ministries. These have provided the
bedrock for enhanced interaction and warmth in the
partnership, lending it a degree of strategic depth.
During his recent visit to Malawi in November
2018, India’s Hon’ble Vice President, stated that
‘India would be happy to become a valuable
partner in the economic development of Malawi’
adding that India and Malawi have gradually
enhanced their economic and trade ties. He further