Prez Murmu wraps up visit to Botswana, Angola; reaffirms India's push for stronger energy, economic ties

Gaborone (Botswana), Nov 13 (PTI) President Droupadi Murmu concluded her six-day state visit to Angola and Botswana on Friday and departed for Delhi, reaffirming India's commitment to deepen partnerships with the two African nations in sectors including energy, trade and investment.

Murmu wrapped up the final leg of her visit from the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Botswana's capital city Gaborone, where President Duma Gideon Boko saw her off after a folk dance performance and a guard of honour by the country's defence forces.

Murmu's November 8-13 trip marked the first-ever visit by an Indian President to Angola and Botswana.

"The visit of honourable President to Africa...to Angola and Botswana, reflects the priority that the government of India attaches to the engagement with the African continent as a whole," Sudhakar Dalela, secretary (economic relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, had said during a pre-departure press briefing.

The visit also reflects India's "firm commitment" to expanding partnership with the African region, including within the framework of India-Africa Forum Summit, he said.

Speaking on the Botswana leg of Murmu's visit, Dalela said India was looking to "strengthen" cooperation in economic, development, capacity building, and technology domains, among others.

He said Botswana, one of the world's largest producers of diamonds, is looking at a capacity-building cooperation from India in the cutting and polishing of these high-value stones at a time when the sector was witnessing "headwinds".

"From our perspective, the state visit of the Honourable President has given fresh momentum to close ties of friendship and cooperation with Botswana," Dalela said.

"We have a clear road map for expanding our partnership with Botswana, and the task before us now is to build on this very positive momentum," he said.

The visit also saw Murmu taking the symbolic handover of eight Botswanan cheetahs as part of an ambitious translocation pact of the big cats, extinct in India since the mid-1950s.

She also witnessed the release of two cheetahs into a quarantine pen at a nature reserve along with President Boko.

Dalela said the cheetahs re-introduction is "a very, very important project for the government of India".

"We are very happy and delighted that the government of Botswana has come forward to partner with India in this very important wildlife conservation initiative," he said, adding they were "very hopeful that these cheetahs will move to India not in a very distant future." India and Botswana also signed an MoU to facilitate the supply of quality and affordable medicines to the southern African nation, 70 per cent of whose land area is covered by the Kalahari desert.

In the first leg of her visit, Murmu spent four days in Angola's capital, Luanda, where she held a one-on-one meeting with President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco.

Lourenco expressed readiness to partner with India in some "very critical" areas like renewable energy, wildlife conservation, and biofuels.

India and Angola signed two MoUs during this visit, one relating to cooperation in fisheries, aquaculture, and marine resources and the other related to counsellor matters.

Murmu told the Angolan leadership that Indian oil and gas companies are desirous of entering into a "long-term" purchase contract with them to meet the country's energy requirements, and they also wish to invest in the petroleum refining and exploration of the critical and rare earth minerals sector.

Angola, during Murmu's visit, also agreed to join the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) and the Global Biofuel Alliance (GBA), two initiatives that were led by India.

Murmu also attended the 50th Independence Day celebrations of Angola before departing for Botswana. PTI NES SCY SCY SCY