Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan was recently on her first state visit to India. She acknowledged herself as a “product of Indian education”, attributing it to her ITEC training at National Institute of Rural Development in Hyderabad.
President Samia has been evenhanded in dealing with China, other partners, and India and in giving New Delhi adequate space in the economic and development partnership with Tanzania. Conferring her an honorary doctorate from JNU was gracious, recognising one of the few lady presidents in Africa. She is the key to the new strategic partnership enunciated with India.
The visit came within a month of the conclusion of the G20 Summit, when India successfully integrated the African Union as a member of the G20. This was the first visit by an African leader since then and therefore had a resonance with how India views Africa and its priorities.
Tanzania perhaps exemplifies how requests have been frequently met by India. Tanzania is one of India’s foremost economic and development partners in eastern Africa. It has received about $1.1 billion in lines of credit, and four of the six projects have already been completed, some before time. India’s assistance to Tanzania in water-related infrastructure has become an idiom for successful implementation of projects in Africa.
Related to the lines of credit and their catalytic effect is the increase in trade and investment. Today, India has an investment of $3.7 billion there, and the trade has grown to $6.34 billion with Indian exports of $3.9 billion. Tanzanian exports have a huge market in India, just after China. A significant part of the trade is the exports of cashew and various kinds of dals, which are the beneficiaries of the duty-free tariff preference scheme that India opened to African Least Developed Countries in 2008. This has led to cross-investments and buyback arrangements.
Tanzania has shown indications to invite more Indian businessmen and enhance trade, and this was evident in the interaction that President Samia had with Indian businessmen.
There are two factors that support a greater emphasis on FDI and trade with Tanzania. First, the Africa Continental FTA provides avenues for better regional markets, which Indian investors prefer to expand beyond the limits of small national markets. Second, the East African Community, whose headquarters are in Arusha, Tanzania, is among the most successful regional communities in Africa. From the ‘original three’ of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, it has now expanded to include South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, and now the largest Central African country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Therefore, investing in Tanzania and utilising the internal facilities of the EAC provides Indian companies with avenues up to the Atlantic Ocean at the port of Matadi in the DRC. Somehow, India is not paying more attention to the EAC.
Tanzania is an important defence partner. Their defence minister has visited India twice in the last two years. They have participated in Indian-led defence meetings, and two defence expos have been held in Tanzania by the active Indian Mission. They are keen on obtaining a line of credit to buy more Indian defence equipment. An Indian military training team is at their training college, originally established with Indian assistance. Tanzania is now not hesitant to have Indian ships visit it frequently. A hydrographic survey was held off the Tanzanian coast. In addition, the first ever trilateral exercise between India, Mozambique, and Tanzania was held in 2022. This is great progress. Tanzania is interested in cooperating with India in maritime matters, particularly the blue economy and maritime security. Unhesitatingly, the joint statement issued after the visit shows that Tanzania acknowledges India’s Indo-Pacific policy and sees itself as a direct part of it. This is progressive.
Moreover, it acknowledges the outreach of SAGAR and sees benefit in it. This is welcome from an Indian Ocean country on the East African littoral. While India does not seek to establish bases in Tanzania, having it as a cooperative partner ensures that inimical forces will not gain ground over there. This can be buttressed by an export of Indian defence equipment, particularly coastal patrol boats and the like.
Human resource development is at the core of the India-Tanzania partnership. A very large number of Tanzanian students study in India. Nearly 5000 Tanzanians have benefited from programmes in India, including the remarkable ITEC programme, the ICCR scholarships, the Raman fellowships, agriculture fellowships, and over 200 military training positions. India has increased the ITEC allocation for Tanzania, recognising that the utilisation is very good and fulfils mutual objectives. Significantly, these positions are now covering new areas like artificial intelligence, port management, and the like. Indian companies are showing more interest in Tanzanian ports, which were earlier considered a Chinese preserve. It is now up to them to grasp the opportunity, raise funding from multiple sources, and make an entry into Tanzania.
From time to time, Indian educational institutions have attempted to set up campuses in Tanzania. The solar mamas training programme in Zanzibar is one such effort. However, the most significant effort is the first ever overseas IIT to be established by IIT Madras in Zanzibar. Significantly, this has only the Indian government’s approval and no Indian investment. This is an important facet of Tanzania. Their governments, whether from Darussalam or Zanzibar, put together the funding to establish institutions with Indian assistance, which they believe are for their development. A Centre of Excellence in ICT at the Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology in 2011 and the ICT Centre at the Nelson Mandela African Institute for Science and Technology in 2016 run successfully.
Tanzania is supportive of India’s international role. It has praised the leadership of the G20. It supports India for the next election to the non-permanent seat and has consistently supported Indian initiatives like ISA, the Bio Fuels Alliance, the Big Cats initiative, and the like.
It is a country where there is an Indian diaspora that is successful, where Indian trade and investment can expand, with defence exports having a huge market, and where the Indian model of development is positively assessed. In view of this, the visit of Tanzanian President Samia has been well timed and well organised.
The writer is a former ambassador to Germany, Indonesia, Ethiopia, ASEAN and the African Union. He tweets @AmbGurjitSingh. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.
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Source link : https://www.firstpost.com/opinion/how-tanzanian-presidents-state-visit-to-india-has-been-well-timed-13248672.html/amp
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Publish date : 2023-10-14 07:00:00
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