India, Africa should be partners in capacity-building: Academics

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The view was expressed at a meeting of academics from India and Africa assembled here for a two-day conference, organised by Indian council for Cultural Relations and African Studies Association of India.

The theme of the conference was 'India and Africa: Partnership for Capacity Building and Human Resource Development'.

Delivering the inaugural address, ICCR president Karan Singh said that India had been partners with Africa since its colonial struggle and this partnership continues into the modern age.

"In various international forums, including the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement and G-77, India and Africa have joined hands and worked together to achieve a better future for ourselves. In fact, Indian leaders have repeatedly reaffirmed India's commitment to be a partner in Africa's resurgence," said Singh.

Similarly, ICCR director general Virendra Gupta said: "What is visible is India's commitment to developing long-term partnerships in the area of infrastructure development and capacity building."

He pointed out that the ICCR had increased the number of scholarships being offered to students from African countries.

"Students from Africa are being placed in various important Universities such as Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Delhi, University of Pune et al. Currently approximately 500 African students are studying under the aegis of the council and there are several thousands under the self-financing scheme," said Gupta.

In addition to the ICCR's existing Indian Cultural Centres in Durban, Johannesburg, Port Louis and Cairo in the continent, new centres are to be opened in Lagos and Dar-es-Salaam shortly.

India also has a scheme of giving short-term training to students from developing countries through its ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation) scheme, under which hundreds of citizens of African nations have been trained in areas ranging from information technology to poultry.

A visiting academic from South Africa, Andre Kraak from the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy, said that India should look to new areas to improve capacity, like biotechnology, textiles and information technology.