Jaishankar says India and Africa are long-term partners in Ghana

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said India and Africa are partners for the long term and should work together on issues such as supply chain resilience, strategic autonomy and cooperation across the Global South. He made the remarks during a visit to Ghana, the first stop of his three-nation tour of Africa that will also take him to Cote d'Ivoire and Ethiopia.

During the visit, Jaishankar held talks with Ghanaian leaders on expanding ties in areas including trade, investment, development, pharmaceuticals, capacity building, defence, technology and people-to-people links. In posts on social media after his meetings and address at Ghana's Foreign Service Institute, he said India was committed to building a partnership with Africa for the future.

After meeting Ghana's Foreign Minister Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, Jaishankar said the two sides also discussed advancing multilateral cooperation and deepening India's engagement with the African Union and ECOWAS. Ghana is a founding member of ECOWAS, the 15-member regional bloc focused on economic, social and political integration in West Africa.

Ablakwa said on X, "Ghana and India are now high-grade strategic partners with our bilateral relations having been elevated to Comprehensive Partnership last year during the state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi." Modi visited Ghana in July 2025. It was his first bilateral visit to the country and the first prime ministerial visit from India to Ghana in three decades.

Two memoranda of understanding were also exchanged in the presence of the two foreign ministers. One was between the Zoological Survey of India and the University of Ghana for cooperation in academics, scientific research and capacity building. The other was between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, and the CSIR-Crops Research Institute, Ghana, for cooperation in agricultural research and education.

Jaishankar also met Ghana President John Dramani Mahama and said he conveyed greetings from President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said they discussed the momentum in India-Ghana ties after Modi's visit last year and added that he appreciated Mahama's vision for Ghana's development and his positive outlook on deepening the Comprehensive Partnership across different sectors.

In his address at the Foreign Service Institute, Jaishankar pointed to India's economic transformation in the fields of economy, infrastructure, digital technology, manufacturing and entrepreneurship, and said this was making India a significant engine of global growth. He said, "In today's turbulent times, the challenge before diplomacy is to manage competition without allowing it to become confrontation, and to promote cooperation even when interests diverge." He added, " security is linked with supply chain resilience, technological capabilities and the ability to produce essential goods."

He said India values self-sufficiency in key sectors while promoting cooperation in many others. Underscoring the importance of digital systems, he said, "India stands ready to share its experiences with its African partners." He also spoke about the need for India and Africa to turn their youthful populations into productive, skilled and empowered citizens, and highlighted the importance of resilient supply chains for fuel, food, fertiliser and finance, as well as the Global South's right to industrialise.

Jaishankar said foreign policy should be guided by strategic autonomy and added, "We believe that partnerships should expand our options, not restrict them." He also reiterated India's commitment to strengthening the voice of the Global South, citing the inclusion of the African Union in the G20 during India's presidency. In another post, he said, "We carry Africa in our hearts and will build a partnership not just for today but for generations to come."

India has been stepping up engagement with African countries through trade, investment, development partnerships and cooperation in areas ranging from technology to energy, with the continent seen as both a growing economic and resource partner and a key voice of the Global South. Ghana, which is set to assume the chairmanship of the African Union in 2027, figured prominently in Jaishankar's visit, which also included an interaction with members of the Indian community in Accra.

With PTI Inputs

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