Accra: India and Ghana have elevated their ties to the level of a comprehensive partnership, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama resolving to expand the bilateral ties in a range of areas, including defence, food security, and pharmaceuticals.
In his media statement shortly after the talks with Mahama on Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi said both sides have set a target of doubling the two-way trade in the next five years and that India is not just a partner but a co-traveller in Ghana’s development journey.
The delegation-level meeting between the two leaders took place hours after Modi arrived in the capital city of the West African country on the first leg of his five-nation tour.
In a special gesture, the prime minister was received at the airport by President Mahama and was accorded a ceremonial welcome. It is the first prime ministerial visit from India to Ghana in three decades.
In their talks, the two leaders resolved to accelerate cooperation in key areas such as defence cooperation, food security, and pharmaceuticals, especially vaccines.
Following the Modi-Mahama talks, the two sides inked four pacts that will provide for cooperation in several areas, including culture and traditional medicine.
“Today, the president and I have decided to elevate our bilateral partnership to a comprehensive partnership,” Modi said, adding, “India is not just a partner but a co-traveller in Ghana’s journey of nation-building.”
“In agriculture, it will be our pleasure to lend support towards President Mahama’s ‘Feed Ghana’ programme,” Modi said.
“We’ve discussed cooperation in vaccine production,” he noted.
Mahama said Ghana is keen to sign formal agreements with India on defence cooperation, vaccine production and supply of agricultural machinery. “Both countries will work to deepen economic and investment relations at a time that Ghana is undergoing economic restructuring due to the debt treatments we are undergoing in the IMF programme,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi said both sides were unanimous that terrorism is the enemy of humanity and that it was decided to further strengthen cooperation in countering the menace.
“We are unanimous that terrorism is the enemy of humanity. We thank Ghana for its cooperation in our fight against terrorism,” he said.
“In this context, we have decided to further strengthen cooperation in counter-terrorism,” he said.
In the field of defence and security, we will move forward with the mantra of “security through solidarity”, he added.
India-Ghana cooperation will be enhanced in areas such as training of armed forces, maritime security, defence supply and cyber security, he added.
The prime minister also highlighted the upswing in trade relations between the two countries.
“Indian companies have invested nearly two billion dollars in about 900 projects. Today, we have set a target to double our mutual trade in the next five years,” he said.
“In the field of FinTech, India is ready to share its experience of UPI digital payments with Ghana,” he noted.
The prime minister also said that Indian companies will cooperate in the exploration and mining of critical minerals.
At a media briefing, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the External Affairs Ministry, Dammu Ravi said President Mahama pitched for cooperation in the areas of agriculture, food security, pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and defence.
“President Mahama is very clearly interested in creating Ghana a hub for vaccines, and some development has already taken place in collaboration with the Global Vaccine Alliance, and in that context,” Ravi said.
The senior diplomat said Ghana is also interested in boosting defence cooperation with India.
“Here again, there are concerns for Ghana in terms of security, terrorism from the northern region, the Sahel region and piracy in the seas are of concern,” he said.
In his remarks, the prime minister said both sides expressed serious concerns over the conflicts in West Asia and Europe and called for finding solutions to the problems through dialogue and diplomacy.
“This is not the era of war; problems should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy,” Modi said.
The two leaders also touched upon issues facing the Global South.
“We are both members of the Global South and are fully committed to its priorities. We thank Ghana for its positive participation in the Voice of Global South Summit,” Modi said.
“It is a matter of pride for India that the African Union got permanent membership of the G20 under our G20 presidency,” he added.
The bilateral relations between India and Ghana, one of the fastest-growing economies in West Africa, are marked by a robust trade and investment partnership.
India is among the top trading partners of Ghana and is the largest destination for Ghanaian exports, driven largely by India’s import of gold.
Ghana is undergoing a major economic restructuring and PM Modi assured the country of all possible assistance in this regard.
