My bilateral talks with President Mahama were extremely fruitful: PM Modi in Accra
In a post on X, after holding talks with President Mahama in the Jubilee House in Accra, the PM posted:
'The talks with President John Dramani Mahama were extremely fruitful.
'We have elevated our ties to a Comprehensive Partnership, which will be beneficial for the people of our nations.
'We discussed ways to improve trade and economic linkages. Cooperation in FinTech, skill development, healthcare and other such sectors were also deliberated upon.'
The two nations inked four MoUs after the talks, besides announcing elevation of the ties to a Comprehensive Partnership
The MoUS included:
-MoU on Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP): To promote greater cultural understanding and exchanges in art, music, dance, literature, and heritage.
-MoU between Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) & Ghana Standards Authority (GSA): Aimed at enhancing cooperation in standardization, certification, and conformity assessment.
-MoU between Institute of Traditional & Alternative Medicine (ITAM), Ghana and Institute of Teaching & Research in Ayurveda (ITRA), India: To collaborate in traditional medicine education, training, and research.
-MoU on Joint Commission Meeting: To institutionalize high-level dialogue and review bilateral cooperation mechanisms on a regular basis.
The MEA spokesperson said in a post on the talks:
'PM @narendramodi held wide-ranging talks with President @JDMahama of Ghana at the iconic Jubilee House, Ghana.
'Both leaders reaffirmed the warm and time-tested ties between India and Ghana, and discussed ways to expand cooperation in key areas including trade & investment, capacity building, defence & security, digital technology, UPI, agriculture, Pharma, mining, infrastructure and people-to-people ties.
'The leaders agreed to elevate the bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Partnership. They reiterated their commitment to democratic values, Global South solidarity, South-South cooperation, and a shared vision for sustainable development & global peace.'
Secretary ER, Dammu Ravi, briefing media persons on the talks, said the two leaders first had a one-on-one meeting which was followed by delegation level talks during which they reviewed the wide spectrum of the bilateral relations.
Both the leaders acknowledged that this is a historic visit for the fact that this is taking place at the Prime Minister level from India after 30 years.
'President Mahama clearly acknowledged that it is a landmark visit that is very timely and very opportunistic at a time when Ghana is also looking for partnership with India to deepen economic engagement after its own economic rebound, recovery that it is facing having gone through the IMF conditionalities and restructuring,'
'A few ideas and proposals that President Mahama had mentioned during the discussions were cooperation in the area of agriculture; where he sought India's support, the entrepreneurs to be able to develop Ghana as a food basket, provide food security to its people. And Prime Minister Modi has agreed to support Ghana in this endeavor.
'The second item was in the area of pharma and vaccines. President Mahama is very clearly interested to create Ghana a hub for vaccines, and some development has already taken place in collaboration with the Global Vaccine Alliance and in that context, he wants Indian entrepreneurs to come and set up manufacturing units in the pharma and vaccines where India clearly has advanced its capacities.
'The third area is in the area of defense cooperation. Here again there are concerns for Ghana in terms of security, terrorism from the northern region, the Sahel region and the piracy in the seas are of concern.
'There is clear interest to have India's support in terms of support of the equipment, training of the personnel and to be able to source equipment from India which has now become very clearly a leader in defense exports.
'There was also concern for the way terrorism is affecting the world. President Mahama clearly expressed solidarity with India. He condemned the Pahalgam terrorist attacks, and he was very clear and unequivocal in his support for India and the solidarity in the fight against terrorism.
Both leaders also discussed the idea of cooperation in the area of critical minerals where President Mahama has offered India to collaborate in harnessing the critical minerals with India's investments and also processing capacities,'
On Thursday, PM Modi is to pay homage to the first President of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, who is highly respected and regarded also in India because of a longstanding friendship with India since the 60s.
Prime Minister will address the Parliament of Ghana and also address the diaspora.
UNI RN
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