Jaishankar at India-Angola joint commission meeting
New Delhi: India and Angola have inked three pacts in the field of health, visa exemption, service passports among others during the first joint commission held on September 7.
The pacts, include visa exemption for holders of diplomatic, official and service passports, cooperation in the field of health and between Ministry of External Relations of Angola and Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service.
It was the first Joint Commission held between the two nations.
It noted that Angola-India development partnership could be further strengthened through lines of credit and buyer's credit arrangements to enhance capacity of Angolan entities in areas like agriculture, defence, energy, industry, and sustainable water projects, health and pharmacy, the joint statement said.
Co-chaired the 1st India-Angola Joint Commission Meeting with FM Téte António. Comprehensive review of bilateral issues. Agreed to diversify the trade basket. Discussions included cooperation in health, pharmaceuticals, defence,agriculture,food processing, digitization & telecom. pic.twitter.com/43KNwnjU6i
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) September 7, 2020
The session was held through video conferencing and co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Minister of External Relations of the Republic of Angola, Ambassador Téte António.
The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen bilateral ties based on the principles and values of democracy.
Further, the two ministers reviewed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations in the areas of political, economic, trade and investment, defence and security and development cooperation.
They also exchanged views on regional and global developments of mutual interest, including counter-terrorism and security, the joint statement added.
The two sides noted that bilateral exchanges had acquired a renewed push, following the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President João Lourenço at Johannesburg in July 2018 on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, it said.
The meeting set the way forward for intensification of bilateral economic relations through partnership in trade & investments, agriculture & food processing, diamond trading, pharmaceuticals, IT & Telecommunication, oil and natural gas, it said.
The Indian side offered to share India's expertise to support the Angolan government's economic diversification plans through capacity building, infrastructure development in key areas of health, education, solar electrification, mining, agriculture, fisheries, food processing etc, while also leveraging Angola's strengths in the petroleum and diamonds sector.
Both sides also agreed to encourage Indian investments in the Information Technologies and telecommunications and cooperate in the field of space so as to benefit the Angolan health and education sectors.
The Angolan minister congratulated Dr Jaishankar on India's election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the term 2021-22.
On his turn, Dr Jaishankar thanked the Angolan minister for continuing support of Angola to India at the UN and other multilateral bodies and appreciated the positive leadership provided by Angola in facilitating the resolution of disputes and conflicts in Africa through dialogue and negotiation.
They also shared the view that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations is a global scourge and resolved to combat it through coordinated regional and global efforts, including at the UN.
It was agreed that the 2nd session of the Angola-India Joint Commission would be held in New Delhi in 2022 on a mutually convenient date.
