India accords high priority to partnership with Nigeria: Modi
India accords a ‘high priority’ to its strategic partnership with Nigeria, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria during a bilateral meet at Abuja on Sunday.
Tinubu also conferred Nigeria’s second-highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), on PM Modi, making him the second foreign dignitary to receive this prestigious award. Queen Elizabeth was the first foreign recipient of the GCON in 1969.
“Honoured to be conferred with the ‘Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger’ Award by Nigeria,” Modi said. The award adds to a growing list of international honours for PM Modi, with Nigeria becoming the 17th country to award him for his contributions at the global level.
Later, Modi described bilateral relations with Nigeria in a post on X saying: “India is the mother of democracy, while Nigeria is the largest democracy in Africa. We both have similarities in democracy, diversity and the energy of demography”.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said: “The two leaders reviewed the ongoing bilateral cooperation and discussed ways to further strengthen India-Nigeria strategic partnership”. The focus was on collaboration in the fields of trade, investment, education, energy, health, culture and people-to-people ties.
The Prime Minister offered India’s experience in agriculture, transportation, affordable medicine, renewable energy and digital transformation to Nigeria. President Tinubu appreciated the development cooperation partnership offered by India and its impact in creating local capacities, skills and professional expertise. The two leaders also discussed enhancing defence and security cooperation, the MEA statement said.
Modi, who is on the first leg of his three-nation tour to Nigeria, made his opening remarks at the bilateral saying: “I am confident that a new chapter in our ties will begin following our talks”.
The visit is the first by an Indian PM to Nigeria in 17 years. The previous visit by an Indian PM to Nigeria was by Manmohan Singh in October 2007.
Modi described the 60,000-strong expatriate Indian community, the largest in West Africa, as a “key pillar” of the India-Nigeria relations.
After the talks, three memoranda of understanding - Cultural Exchange Programme, Customs Cooperation and Survey Cooperation - were signed.
Sources said, in the past 60 years, political contacts at the highest level had been maintained with Nigeria. Throughout the decades from 60s to 80s, teachers and doctors from India played a crucial role during the formative years of Nigeria. This extended to defence training as well, through the establishment of National Defence Academy, Kaduna and Naval War College, Port Harcourt by Indian military officers.
More than 200 Indian companies have invested about $27 billion in manufacturing sectors and these companies are the second largest employers after the Federal Government.
India has emerged as a development partner of Nigeria in two fronts – by offering developmental assistance through concessional loans ($100 million) and by offering capacity building training programmes.
India has been supporting Nigeria’s efforts in capacity building under Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme. Every year, India offers about 250 civilian and 250 defence training slots under to Nigeria.
Since 1970s, around 27,500 Nigerians have benefitted from the ITEC.
