- yesterday
India’s MEA faced probing queries on PM Modi’s historic Ghana tour, first PM visit in 30 years, covering diplomatic wins, MoUs, vaccine hub talks, digital payments, trade boost, and deeper India–Ghana ties. The press briefing highlighted transparency and global outreach strategy.
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NewsTranscript
00:00First, Prime Minister mentioned UPI and it can help Ghana.
00:05Is there any chance that we can have a linking of that with both countries' finance and services?
00:13And also, Prime Minister mentioned the fact that Ghana actually said that about Balgam attack
00:22and actually spoken about against terrorism.
00:25So, if there is any chance of working together with Ghana and neighbour countries in counter-terrorism sphere.
00:35We have… Please, sir.
00:38Sir, my name is Aloka. I am from Akashwani.
00:42My question is, what has been discussed on the vaccine diplomacy today?
00:49And how can Bharat help Ghana in this country and what has been discussed on the vaccine?
00:57And what has been discussed on the vaccine?
00:59What has been discussed on that?
01:02Any more questions this side?
01:06Okay. Here, please. Please, there is a mic there.
01:11Hi. I am Juliet Ethica with the Business and Financial Times.
01:17Of all the areas of cooperation you mentioned, you mentioned cooperation in critical minerals.
01:23And Ghana has a lot of critical minerals.
01:25So, if there are specific minerals, this collaboration we will be looking at.
01:33So, you can take those questions.
01:35We will come back for more questions.
01:36Let me first clarify to you that the importance of cooperation, collaboration between India and Ghana
01:57also has to be seen in the context of the global south countries coming together.
02:02And South-South cooperation, the solutions to be found by the countries of the global south
02:09by way of sharing the expertise, know-how, and doing collaborations.
02:14And that is very important for us to understand.
02:16The visit of the prime minister to be seen in that context, in the larger context of the global south.
02:22Now, on the UPI, the question whether, how the linkages will help.
02:27Now, let's understand this, the unified payment interface was a successful initiative in India.
02:37Ghana, too, is quite advanced in the way they are thinking in introducing the systems.
02:43The Pan-African payment gateways is what Ghana is already looking at.
02:47But expert level discussion should have to evolve further.
02:54I think we have to expect the discussions to continue for some more time because these are technical issues.
03:00And the recognition of the technology and being able to align the technologies is very important.
03:07I think we will get into details about these linkages subsequently.
03:11But this potential is enormous for both India and Africa to link through Ghana.
03:20I will not further elaborate it, we will let the experts speak subsequently.
03:27Now, working together in counter-terrorism, yes, as I said in my opening remarks itself,
03:36there is concern on both sides.
03:39Ghana, too, is facing the problem of instability in the Sahel region and there is a fear that it might spill into Ghana.
03:49And the piracy on the sea coast is another concern.
03:53So, it wants to protect.
03:55And cooperation with India is important for its own sovereignty and to be able to secure its borders.
04:03Now, this is a global concern.
04:05Terrorism is a global concern for all countries.
04:08In that sense, there is a broad understanding on the need to condemn terrorism wherever and whenever it happens.
04:15And there can be no let up in that, in the action, the global action and the commitment towards it.
04:22So, defense cooperation will lead to that in tackling because there are, once the defense dialogues takes place at a regular intervals,
04:34these issues will come up.
04:35We are already training the Ghanaian defense officials and personnel, specifically in India for their,
04:49in how they understand terrorism to counter-terrorism within, in Ghana itself.
04:56So, that cooperation is active and it is now expanding further into the area of equipment sourcing from India.
05:05On the vaccine hub, well, aapne joo sawaal poucha hai vaccine ke baare mein,
05:12toh, vise toh, yehaan paar joo system hai, already India se export ho ra hai, yehaan ka.
05:17Lekin, President Mahama ka joo interest hai ki, yehaan paar fill and finish concept, manufacturing facilities agar,
05:26haam yaan paar chalou kare hai,
05:28siraf ghana ke liye nahi hai, lekin West Africa ko joo market ke expand ker sakti hai,
05:35haamara footprint vahaan bada sakti hai.
05:37Toh, yeh haamara joo entrepreneurs already trading kare hai,
05:41medicines or pharma or vaccines, yehaan ka set up karne se,
05:48aur unka jo bhal milega aur market expansion ka opportunity bhi milega.
05:55Toh, yeh unka thinking and in the larger context of engaging India in the pharma and vaccine space,
06:03I think this is a very good opening, this is a gateway
06:07and we should encourage our entrepreneurs to be able to take advantage
06:12of what President Mahama is offering in terms of collaborations in the pharma area.
06:19This has become an important priority for all the countries around the world,
06:23particularly in Africa post-COVID, and we see that as an opportunity.
06:28In terms of, madam, you talked about critical minerals in specific,
06:33but I think this needs a bit more exploration because Ghana, as we know,
06:37is endowed with very rich minerals.
06:40And that the world knows, which is why it is called as the Gold Coast.
06:44And there are other minerals which are yet to be explored.
06:49And the President Mahama has clearly mentioned that Ghana has several critical minerals
06:54still to be explored and exploited.
06:57And he has offered Indian expertise and entrepreneurship to come
07:02and be able to precisely do collaborations here.
07:07So we know that there are many possibilities here.
07:11It requires a study.
07:13It requires exploration.
07:15And then exploitation is, it follows from there.
07:19Thank you very much.
07:20Okay, thank you.
07:22My name is James Samu Jr.
07:24Please.
07:25Please, please.
07:26Go ahead.
07:27Go ahead.
07:28Yes.
07:29I work with the Ghana News Agency.
07:30As we all are aware, trade volumes between India and Ghana reached over 3 billion US dollars.
07:40And as we may also be aware, Ghana has been, you know, touted as the citadel of trade now in Africa, so to say,
07:51with the Africa continental free trade area, you know, situated here.
07:57How is India hoping to leverage AFTA to boost trade but also to increase the trade volumes?
08:05Mm-hmm.
08:06Please.
08:07Mm-hmm.
08:09My name is Nima Amar.
08:11I write for the High Street Journal.
08:14I write for the High Street Journal.
08:17In your conversation about the setting up of plans, you know, the president launched the 24-hour economic policy,
08:26which is expected to run the country one way or the other 24 hours.
08:33And ministers, some ministers, even the president himself, the chief of staff, have been to other countries like China to engage investors.
08:43In terms of timeframe, can you give us a timeframe whereby we can see more of the Indian community drooping into Ghana
08:55and enforcing the collaboration in the terms of setting up of plants and all that?
09:01Question there, please.
09:03Good evening.
09:04My name is Blesa Suga.
09:05I'm a broadcast journalist with the Multimedia Group.
09:08I have a question on BRICS.
09:11Two years ago, the former president, Nanak Nakwaku Fado, espoused the idea that Ghana may be at the doorstep of BRICS,
09:20asking for membership, just as many other West African countries.
09:24President Mahama, during his inaugural speech, also appears to be following that line,
09:31adding that BRICS appears to be creating a new world order.
09:37Will India open its arms in the form of the kind of leadership that we've seen over the years,
09:42that you've played on that multilateral platform in accepting countries such as Ghana as members?
09:49Then also, this will be the Prime Minister's second visit to West Africa this year.
09:56Is West Africa becoming the new destination for Indian investment?
10:03Do you have a question?
10:06Good evening.
10:10My name is Simano.
10:12I write for the Daily Graphic newspaper.
10:15I want to find out, with the cooperation that has been signed between Ghana and India,
10:22I want to know how much of investment, monetarily, if that calculation has been done,
10:30is going into this cooperation between Ghana and India on the part of India?
10:36And what will the Indian government also be getting from Ghana with this cooperation?
10:43What India is going to get?
10:46Yes.
10:47What's the investment coming from?
10:49We have a question there?
10:50Yes.
10:51My name is Mabel from GBC.
10:53In all that you've mentioned, you've not said anything about the power sector.
10:58We know India is very big on renewables, especially solar.
11:03So right now with the crisis, a little bit of crisis that we've faced in the power sector,
11:08is India bringing on board anything?
11:11Okay.
11:12So we can take these questions.
11:15Several questions, but I'm trying to summarize and condense a few of them.
11:29Let me take the first question on the trade and investments here.
11:32Now, it's very important item that was discussed in the delegation level talks today.
11:39Clearly, both the leaders have set a very ambitious target from three billion currently
11:48to about six billion dollars target in the next five years.
11:53As you know, the balance of trade is actually in favor of Ghana at this point of time
11:59because of large imports of gold into India.
12:02But we would like to diversify.
12:04The leaders are very clear that there is a need for diversification of the trade basket.
12:08So the target is set for six billion.
12:10Now, in the context of the Africa continent-wide free trade agreement,
12:14it provides a very interesting opportunity here
12:17because once you collapse your internal tariffs
12:20and bring uniform standards across the continent,
12:24then countries like Ghana could be extremely important
12:28and look like a gateway into the markets in subregion context.
12:33Let's say West Asian region, Ghana can be a potential gateway for us.
12:37We have to strategize how we can take advantage of this development.
12:42In terms of the investments, today India is one of the largest investor there.
12:48Two billion dollars of investments both by the private sector
12:51and India's own concession financing initiatives.
12:58So in the private sector, 900 Indian companies are operating.
13:03They are quite active, but their investments are modest.
13:06That comes around one billion dollar.
13:08India's lines of credit and grants put together comes about another one billion dollar.
13:13By that it is very modest.
13:15Now once your investment policy becomes attractive,
13:18and this depends a lot on your own domestic policy of investment policy becoming attractive for Indian companies,
13:26it will naturally happen.
13:28I think one of which is again creating these hubs, vaccine hubs, the manufacturing facilities,
13:33inviting companies, tax concessions that you might give.
13:36A lot will depend on that.
13:38But there is interest in Indian entrepreneurship to go and explore precisely the markets in Africa.
13:47And stable countries like Ghana is indeed one of the strongest attraction for us.
13:54Power sector, this item came up in the discussion for sure.
13:59And I think both leaders understand that power is very important for development and growth.
14:06India's had in the recent times in the renewable space had set a target of 500 gigawatts.
14:15And we are very much going towards the target with a lot of confidence.
14:21We have successfully introduced a gigawatt scale of solar parks in the country.
14:26I think there is a scope for replicating those models in this part of the world.
14:31But it is again the economics have to come into play.
14:35In the course of time we will have to see the industry interest,
14:40the off-take agreements that the governments will enter into,
14:43will provide that kind of lure and attraction for Indian companies.
14:50So we have to remain hopeful on that.
14:53Now setting up of plans and Prime Minister Mahama's twenty-four hour initiative here,
14:59again there was a discussion in the delegation level talks.
15:02But I think there was learning from each other,
15:06learning from the examples around the world.
15:08And India in some sense had introduced this in the educational field,
15:12that you try to have more shifts in skilling, in colleges,
15:19I think in the medical arena, you could have more shifts rather than just a day shift.
15:25So this was ideas exchanged between the two leaders,
15:29and President Mahama was very receptive to it,
15:32and he feels that Ghana can also position itself in those lines.
15:38Now timelines, we cannot set timelines for any of this,
15:42but I believe its market forces, the interests of the businesses will move
15:47and propel these kind of collaborations.
15:51BRICS, again you talked about Ghana wanting to be a BRICS member.
15:57I think already if you see from Africa you have already countries like Nigeria as a partner country,
16:08Uganda is joined as a partner country.
16:10I think the interest in BRICS is now growing.
16:15But again these decisions are not by one individual country.
16:18It's a consensus-based decision-making, so all the member countries would have to agree.
16:23But I think it's again how Ghana takes it up with other countries for its membership.
16:31And we would be happy to support Ghana's aspiration to be a BRICS member.
16:40The next wave of expansion when, as and when it happens,
16:45because today we went through two expansions.
16:47One was in 2009 when Africa, South Africa came in as a member,
16:51and now we have the second wave,
16:53which the large numbers have become full members and also permanent partner countries.
16:57The next wave we will have to see when that happens,
17:00but I think we will definitely keep that in mind given our strong relationship.
17:06West Africa is an opportunity.
17:08I think we have to understand again the West African geography and the natural resources that it possesses.
17:17I think in this belt you have extremely important rich mineral resources,
17:21including gas and oil, and some of which are not fully exploited because it's the same belt.
17:27And phosphate is another area, manganese is another area.
17:32So it's in the same zone that you are seeing opportunity here.
17:35I think Indian entrepreneurs are actively looking at it, seriously looking at it,
17:42and many of them are traveling to this part of the world and exploring opportunities.
17:47We will have to encourage greater commitment on their part and greater staying power in this region
17:56to be able to do enduring collaborations with countries like Ghana and others in West Africa.
18:03One last thing I would like to mention here is the Honorable Prime Minister Modi extended invitation to President Mahama to visit India at mutually convenient dates.
18:20We would be very delighted to have this exchange of visit happening at Sunna.
18:26I think in the days to come to diplomatic channels mutually convenient dates will be explored.
18:32I thank you very much for your patience.
18:36Thank you. With that we come to the end of this press briefing.
18:40Please do follow us on our social media handles for more updates on the programs tomorrow.
18:49Thank you very much.
18:57Thank you very much.
18:59Thank you very much.
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