Your Excellency, President Samia Suluhu Hassan,
Esteemed Ministers from Tanzania,
My cabinet colleague Sh. Dharmendra Pradhan ji,
Chancellor Amb Kanwal Sibal
Vice Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit
Dignitaries,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Namaskar, Habari, Good Morning
2. It is a matter of great pride for us to confer the Honorary Doctorate on President Samia Suluhu Hassan today from the Jawahar Lal Nehru University. I take particular satisfaction in this as an alumnus of this University. Hon. President is no stranger to India and has personally experienced the capabilities of Indian institutions. Though it is our first chance to welcome her as the President of Tanzania, we greet her as an old friend. By honouring her with an educational conferment, we not only recognize her long association with India but highlight this particular aspect of our relationship.
3. Education and capacity building are important facets of our bilateral ties. Over 5000 Tanzanian nationals have been trained in educational institutions in India under our ITEC program. India also plays host to several Tanzanian students who study in India. And in our universities, young minds brim with confidence as they shape India's future through their startups, inventions, and innovations. They carry a profound sense of responsibility and duty towards our collective future. And I’m sure that their Tanzanian student friends obviously benefit from that.
4. Taking this link further, from our side, Tanzania became the preferred destination to set up the first overseas campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras in Zanzibar. Classes for the first batch are scheduled to begin this month. The institution has the potential to become the premier centre for technical education for the entire African continent. It is symbolic of our co-operation with the Global South and I deem it a personal privilege to have been present in Zanzibar at its inauguration. The first cohort, I believe, has been finalized and it actually reminds me of my own years in JNU, as these were the inception years of the University.
5. Providing a voice for the Global South has been the overriding concern of our G-20 Presidency and again, you are all familiar that we consulted with 125 countries at the Voice of Global South Summit to ensure that the G20 addresses the fundamental issues of the developing world. The inclusion of the African Union into the G20 as a full member has been one of the high successes of our Presidency. But I would like to take this occasion to underline that the rise of Africa is, we believe, is central to global rebalancing. Our support for that process is therefore unstinted. Most of our embassies that we have opened in the last decade are in that continent. I may add that the visit by President Samia Suluhu Hassan is the first visit from Africa after the inclusion of the AU into the G20 and we recognize that significance as well.
6. Ladies and gentlemen, India and Tanzania have enjoyed traditionally close and friendly relations marked by sound political understanding, regular high-level visits, diversified economic engagement and strong people to people contacts. Our trade relations with Tanzania date back to several centuries when traders from western coast of India first traveled to East Africa along the maritime route for trade and commerce. In fact yesterday, when the Honorable President met PM Modi, this was the connect between our western coastline, the state of Gujarat and Zanaibar in particular, which was very much the subject of conversation. The economic ties between the two countries have always remained a strong pillar of our cooperation. I am happy to inform that despite global disruption and challenges posed by pandemic our bilateral trade has witnessed strong growth from both sides and currently stands at US$ 6.4 billion.
7. With India already as the 5th largest economy, the Indian Government is vigorously pursuing sweeping reforms aimed at ensuring inclusive growth. India has grown as an economic powerhouse and this offers opportunities to businessmen from Tanzania to be part of our growth story. While India is one of the fastest growing economy in the world, Tanzania has displayed impressive economic performance in Africa. This offers enormous opportunities for further cooperation and convergence between the two countries and I should say that we are limited only by our ambition. Our engagement with Tanzania, indeed with all of Africa continues to be guided by 10 principles enumerated by PM Narendra Modi in July 2018. In essence, it is cooperation based on our partners’ priority.
8. In the contemporary era, the centre of gravity is now moving towards the Indo-Pacific region, and that also encompasses the East Coast of Africa. Guided by our SAGAR policy, we engage Tanzania as a littoral neighbour. Our cooperation can make a notable contribution to maintaining peace, prosperity and security and ensure secure, free and open shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean.
9. Real partnerships are driven by exchanges of experience which identify and constantly refresh collaborative opportunities. Those who are a living bridge in this regard hold a particular value for our ties. In the person of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, we have today amidst us, exactly such an inspiration. This conferment, I am very confident, is a message that relations between our two countries will continue to further grow and prosper in the times to come.