India, Ghana sign three agreements

India and Ghana have signed three bilateral agreements to strengthen co-operation in varied fields.
These agreements were signed after delegation level talks between President Pranab Mukherjee and his Ghanaian counterpart John Dramani Mahama in Accra.
The signed agreements include one for visa waivers for holders of diplomatic and official passports and one for setting up a Joint Commission.
Civil Nuclear Cooperation

• During the delegation level talks between Indian President and his Ghanaian counterpart, the African country has sought India’s civil nuclear cooperation to reduce its dependence on traditional energy sources.

President’s 3 African countries tour

• Ghana is the first country visited by the President during the six-day three countries tour as part of India’s agenda of deepening ties with the African countries. The other two African countries include Ivory Coast and Namibia.
• It should be noted that this is the first visit of any Indian President to Ghana and Ivory Coast whereas to Namibia, such official visit comes after two decades.

India-Ghana Relations

• India is the largest foreign investor in Ghana with more than 700 projects. Most of these projects are in the manufacturing sector.
• In recent times, bilateral trade between India and Ghana has increased to 1.2 billion dollars from 538 million dollars in 2010.
• Ghana’s main trade with India mainly consists of gold exports which accounts for nearly 80% of total trade. Ghanaian gold is in great demand in India.
• Ghana also has a very prosperous Indian-origin community, roughly around 10,000. Of this population 7,000 have Indian passports with some families arriving here as early as 1920’s.

Month: Current Affairs - June, 2016