Addis Ababa, May 24
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today made a strong call to African countries to work collectively with India to combat the scourge of terrorism.

Threats posed by terrorism and other challenges like poverty eradication, sustainable development and inequitable international order were issues on which India and Africa should work together, he said at the retreat on the margins of the Second Africa India Forum Summit here.

"Apart from bilateral cooperation, India and Africa can and should work together on regional and international issues," he said at the retreat attended by leaders from 15 African countries.

Earlier, the Prime Minister had while addressing the Summit highlighted the need to chart new pathways of engagement, take stock of the global economic and political situation and review the progress the two sides have made in their cooperation in the last three years.

“We have put in place an architecture of cooperation and we have developed a culture of communication and dialogue.

“Yet we cannot be fully satisfied and that is because our people want and expect much more from us. They are hungry for progress. There is so much more to be done," he said.

Singh noted that the current international economic and political situation was far from easy, particularly for developing countries and spoke about "new challenges" confronting the world in meeting the requirements of food and energy security.

Manmohan Singh announced a mammoth $5 billion credit line to Africa for various development projects, reflecting India’s growing ties with the resource-rich continent.

He also declared an additional $700 million package to establish new institutions and training programmes across the continent.

“We will offer 5 billion US dollars for the next three years under lines of credit to help Africa achieve its development goals,” the Indian Prime Minister said. — PTI