As the captain of the ship, how is he competent to steer the ship to different heights nevertheless rough the sea may be? What brands him distinct from others?
Beliefs in India for the new government are sky-high. Positive hope could be made in almost every sector-whether agriculture, health, education, poverty, infrastructure, electricity, growth, business friendliness, or the legal system.
Prospects are high that his approach would be more sensible and practical, and away from grand gestures. Regardless of mounting recognition of the latent of the African market, previous government did not venture there until the last visit of the Prime Minister to Nigeria in 2007, India's largest trading partner on the continent.
The fame of Modi goes beyond the shorelines of India. From USA to Africa, from China to Europe, one will all times find those who are fascinated by Modi’s persona and bravura of work type.
“Modi has every reason to take Africa seriously since he talked much about development. Africa is the reservoir of resources in this 21st century. No country which is looking for economic upliftment can ever ignore Africa. My advice to Modi as expert in African studies would be to look what is China doing in Africa and why? China knows the indispensability of China for their economic development. India being a growing country need resources especially oil and gas from Africa. Therefore, Modi's government must see Africa from the right perspective and do everything that could bring India and Africa closer and enhance its trade and commerce relationship. Modi's should see that all the commitment that UPA has made implement without fail and regain Africa's trust on India” said Dr. A. S. Yaruingam Head, Department of African Studies & Coordinator, Centre for African Studies University of Delhi.
The new spearhead is fairly passionate for Africa. No doubt, Gujaratis are curiously efficacious at doing business in Africa. Gujarat's historic and geographic lead has shaped a network of traders, and a Modi-led government would apply this network to expand wider Indian trade ties with Africa.
While applauding the efforts of India for successfully holding the peaceful, fair and free elections, the High Commissioner of Lesotho to India, H.E. Mr. Bothata Tsikoane said, “On behalf of His Majesty, King Letsie III, the Government and the people of the Kingdom of Lesotho, I would like to congratulate the winners, the voters and the entire Indian Community for this election. The Indian Democracy is the number one winner and surely this victory calls for a great celebration not only by Indians but the whole world as well.”
The former commerce ministry assistant quoted earlier by saying "We should be maintaining a database and developing contacts in African countries. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) needs to prioritise economic engagement. We make eight trips to America and the UK in a year, but it takes us years to plan a visit to an African nation."
Preferably, while the MEA should recognise regions of impending economic worth and shape relationships, the Commerce Ministry should simplify trade with those regions. MEA should develop economic connections in new markets and sharpen on high-profile visits to the countries of Africa.
At the India Economic Convention in New Delhi in March, Modi spoke of the requisite for a refurbishment at the MEA. He said: "It seems... our overseas missions' primary task is to file long reports...to gather information about their host country, write political and security analyses about the country's old friends and new. These dispatches are sent to headquarters, where they are read by the relevant division. While such procedures were justified in a previous day and age, in the 21st century, both foreign policy and the foreign office needed to change direction."
“Africa is a strong partner to India and our friendship is based on mutual respect and assistance. The history tells us that Africa and India always work side-by-side in key international issues. Our wish to the upcoming government will be the preservation of that flame, and the deepening of the friendship that binds us together as partner. There have been recently lots of misunderstandings between the African community and our Indian Brothers and a series of isolated unfortunate events which have shaken at some points our living as Africans in India, our prayer is that such unwanted events don’t come again, our Indian brothers and us deserve to look at the same direction as we are historically and traditionally linked”, said Richie Lontulungu, President of the Congolese Community of India (CCI) in an interview to IAT.
The Vibrant Gujarat Summit has no doubt, become an illustration of visionary approach of the State Government of Gujarat to investment promotion and encroachment of commercial and social growth for many states.
The event, in true sense, delivers massive prospects to the state to exhibit its strengths, progressive stand, creativities, investor friendly climate and culture of Gujarat. The state of Gujarat, known as the Growth Engine of India, is now stirring towards headship in knowledge advancements based on the towers of novelty and sustainability.
The event not only provides local players a chance to network with national and international players, but also with top Government officials from various departments and sectors. This event has encouraged the administration, and stimulated government workers and agencies to work hard and get organized.
The triumph of the Vibrant Gujarat Summits has rightly proved the international standing of Modi as an administrator; over a hundred countries participate in the Summits and the results are for all to see. They brought investment and economic growth to Gujarat.
Interestingly, a brilliant new study submits that the secret of Modi’s success place in agriculture, an area totally ignored by political analysts. Ashok Gulati, Tushaar Shah and Ganga Sreedhar have written an IFPRI paper, ‘Agricultural Performance in Gujarat Since 2000’, which high spot something few people know - that Gujarat’s agricultural performance is most superlative in India.
It’s imperative to highlight, at this point, that agriculture is vital for sub-Saharan Africa’s growth and for achieving the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015. The connotation of agribusiness for wealth formation in Africa has been extensively acknowledged in recent years. There is no doubt that Africa is well braced to become the Future Food Basket of the World and is definitely the way to wealth in Africa.
Gujaratis have made noteworthy contribution to the political economy of East Africa and it is but likely for Modi to raise closer ties between India and East African nations amongst other countries where even today there are Gujaratis in large numbers.
He has commenced a very fruitful visit to Kenya and Uganda where he received a very warm welcome. The Governments of Kenya and Uganda were extremely enthralled by the expansion of Gujarat under Modi.
In January 2014 the High Commissioner of South Africa met Modi and he was with Shri Modi’s plan to celebrate 100 years of Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India in 2015 (Gandhi ji returned in 1915 from South Africa).
Little wonder that during every Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the most awaited speaker remains Modi. He stays a widely travelled person, having visited various countries including Australia, China, Japan, Mauritius, Thailand and Uganda.
