External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has embarked on a five-day official visit to Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Ethiopia, with a focus on strengthening India’s bilateral partnerships with the three African nations.
During the visit, Jaishankar is scheduled to hold bilateral discussions with his counterparts and meet the leadership of all three countries to review existing ties and explore new avenues of cooperation. The engagements are expected to cover trade and economic relations, development cooperation, capacity building and people-to-people connections. Regional and global issues of mutual interest are also likely to feature in the discussions.
The visit underlines India’s continued efforts to expand its engagement with Africa and reinforce its partnership with countries of the Global South. New Delhi has increasingly placed greater emphasis on development partnerships, economic cooperation and capacity-building initiatives as key pillars of its engagement with African nations.
Ghana is the first leg of the visit, where Jaishankar is expected to engage with the country’s leadership and foreign policy establishment. Discussions are likely to focus on strengthening cooperation in areas including pharmaceuticals, agriculture, industrial development, education and information technology.
The visit to Côte d’Ivoire will provide an opportunity to further consolidate India’s economic and development partnership with the West African nation. Broader discussions on trade, investment, capacity building and regional developments are expected to form part of the ministerial engagement.
In Ethiopia, Jaishankar will hold high-level meetings in Addis Ababa and chair the Regional Heads of Mission Conference. The conference is expected to bring together Indian diplomatic representatives from the region to review developments and India’s engagement across Africa.
The minister’s engagements in Ethiopia will also provide an opportunity to assess emerging regional and global challenges and coordinate India’s diplomatic priorities across the African continent.
The five-day tour comes as India seeks to deepen its diplomatic and economic footprint across Africa while strengthening solidarity with the Global South. The engagements in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Ethiopia are expected to provide further momentum to India’s Africa outreach and create opportunities for expanded cooperation across multiple sectors.
