Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria,
Members of the two delegations,
Friends from the media,
It gives me immense pleasure to be here in Abuja today, to co-chair with my colleague, the Minister, the sixth Joint Commission Meeting between our two countries.
I would like to begin by expressing my appreciation, my gratitude for the warm hospitality, for all the arrangements that have been made and Minister personally to you, for motivating me and I would say encouraging me to come here today to Abuja; and it is something we discussed when you were in New Delhi and I am very glad today that I was able to follow up on it.
India and Nigeria, as you have just heard from the Minister, we share a long-standing and friendly relationship which is really rooted in history in many ways. We are the largest democracies of the world and as the Minister said, we are leaders in our own continents as well. And our relationship really with contemporary Nigeria dates back, we had a diplomatic presence even before the formal establishment of your independence. But in recent years, this has been renewed by contacts between our leaderships and today I bring the greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to President Excellency Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu and to members of his administration as well.
Now, while there have been strong contacts and many conversations between our leadership, I think what underpins us, what really creates a bond is not just that we are pluralistic societies and successful democracies, but because today we have administrations in the two countries who really follow through on the belief that no one should be left behind. And it is this inclusive approach, inclusive within the country, inclusive where the rest of the world is concerned, which I think creates a strong bonding between us and allows us to work so closely in international organizations.
I would also like to recall at this time that last year we had the privilege of chairing the G20, and it was natural for us that Nigeria should be invited to participate in the G20 proceedings. We were extremely honored to have President Tinubu visit India for the Leaders' Summit in September. And since then and before that, we've actually had a steady set of visits. Our Defense Minister was here for the inauguration of the administration. And I certainly hope that my visit would continue that tradition and keep high-level contacts strong.
The Minister also referred to the fact that our relationship has evolved from being historical friends to becoming strategic partners. I think many of you know that today the term strategic partnership is laden with a lot of meaning, with a lot of content and with a lot of promise. So when we look ahead at what is the working of the Joint Commission, I think we will be guided very much by that.
I came in yesterday to Lagos. I spent a very fruitful day there. I met with members of the Indian community. I had an opportunity to address the leading think tank of Nigeria, but also to spend time with investors from India, who have great experience and really very good sentiments for this country and for the relationship. So when I today come into this Joint Commission, I want to say that I carry a lot of practical knowledge even from that brief stay in Lagos. And today, as an economic partner of Nigeria, whose investments are estimated broadly at about $27 billion, which has an annual trade turnover with this country of somewhere between $13 to $15 billion, when we have about a 130 Indian companies who have really put their economic future, struck roots in this country, to a point where actually they have become one of the largest employers in this country. I think there is a very, very strong foundation on which we would be building, but certainly we would be discussing how our experiences and the changes in each other's countries and in the world, in the last few years can feed into the Joint Commission so that our relationship, even as it grows today, is able to realize the possibilities of the future in a much more effective manner.
Once again, Minister, my very deep gratitude for the warmth of your welcome and for all the arrangements which our colleagues on this table have made today for the meeting of the Joint Commission.
Thank you.