H.E. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, Minister for External Affairs of India, visited Addis Ababa along with a high level delegation consisting of Mr. Nalin Surie, Vice Minister, DG(Africa), DG(African Union) and others from the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, from July 3-6, 2007.  During his visit, EAM called on H.E. Mr. Girma Wolde Giorgis, President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, H.E. Mr. Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister, Ambassador Teshome Toga, Speaker of the House of Peoples’ Representatives and H.E. Mr. Seyoum Mesfin, Foreign Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.  Following the detailed talks between the Foreign Ministers, they signed five bilateral agreements on the establishment of a Joint Ministerial Commission, on enhancing consultations between the Foreign Office establishments, on Protection and Promotion of Bilateral Investment, on Cooperation in the field of Science and Technology and a Programme for Educational Exchanges.

            During the visit, Minister for External Affairs of India, was hosted to lunch by H.E. Mr. Girma Birru, Minister of Trade and Industry, where he had intensive discussions on enhancing bilateral economic cooperation with his host and H.E. Mr. Sufian Ahmad, Minister of Finance, H.E. Mr. Alemayehu Tegenu, Minister of Mines and Energy and H.E. Mr. Junedi Sado, Minister of Transport and Communication.  During the visit, the Minister for External Affairs, along with H.E Mr. Tefera Walwa, Minister of Capacity Building, inaugurated the Tele-education facility under the Pan-African e-Network Project at the Addis Ababa University and the Tele-medicine facility at the Black Lion Hospital.   During this and the subsequent lunch hosted by Minister for Capacity Building, he met the Ministers for Education and Health.

            During the visit, the Minister for External Affairs addressed the Standing Committee on Foreign, Defence and Security Affairs and the Ethio-India Parliamentary Friendship Group and also had a meeting with the Indian community.

            Among the salient features of the visit was the extension of the first tranche of a line of credit to support the sugar industry of Ethiopia of US$ 122 million out a total of US$ 640 million, which will be provided over 5 years.  The Hon’ble Minister also announced doubling of ITEC training slots for Ethiopia from 25 to 50 in a five year time frame.  This was the first visit by a Minister of External Affairs of India to Ethiopia and the first visit to Sub-Saharan Africa by H.E. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, Minister for External Affairs of India.

            Towards the conclusion of the visit, EAM called on H.E. Mr. Alpha Oumar Konare, Chairperson of the African Union Commission.  A meeting of Indian Ambassadors in Sub-Saharan Africa was chaired by the Hon’ble Minister on the first day of his visit.

            EAM’s address to the Foreign, Defence and Security Affairs Standing Committee and Ethio-India Parliamentary Friendship Group, address to the Indian community and his remarks at the inauguration of the pilot projects for Tele-education and Tele-medicine under the Pan-african e-Network Project are also on the website.

(For More Information and EAM's Addresses follow the below links.)

EAM's address to Parliament Committee

EAM's address to Indian community

EAM's Remarks at Tele-education inauguration

EAM's Remarks at Tele-medicine inauguration

EAM's address to Parliament Committee

Ambassador Mohammed Ali, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign, Defence & Security Affairs,

Hon’ble Ato Tekle Tesema, Chairman of the Ethiopia-India Parliamentary Friendship Group,

Hon’ble Members of Parliament,

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

          It is my proud privilege today to be among the Peoples’ Representatives in this august House of Parliament and represent the world’s largest democracy. We are ancient civilisations, bound by links that are ancient as well as modern. Both our countries are engaged in the vital task of development and the eradication of poverty in a democratic framework. This is no small task.  Indeed, it is a matter of pride that India and Ethiopia, who are neighbours across the Indian Ocean, share so much  not only in our past, but also in the present, and certainly in the future.

          Today, I am honoured to bring you the good wishes of the Government and people of India, on the occasion of Millennium celebrations here.  It is fortuitous that this event coincides with the 60^th anniversary of India’s independence.  That gives us more reason to come together in joyful celebration and to look at the future with confidence.

          Ethiopia is widely known in India as a close friend on the eastern coast of Africa, with whom we have a long history and tradition of friendly relations, based on people-to-people contacts and trade.  These have given us the momentum and heritage to build on.  In my current visit to Ethiopia, it has been heart warming for me to see for myself the manifest desire to expand and diversify our relationship. 

          Ethiopia is well known for being a country in Africa that was never colonised.  I have seen for myself the visible and strong desire for autonomy in decision-making and in choosing a path of development that suits Ethiopia’s own requirements.  We respect this.  India and Ethiopia are fellow travellers on a road towards the upliftment of our peoples, accepting equally the challenge of poverty elimination in an increasingly globalising world.  We are bound by a common desire to work together for a peaceful and prosperous world.  We equally share cultural, religious and ethnic diversity in our countries.

          The development of parliamentary democracy in India was rooted in our own tradition of village councils.  The value that we traditionally attached to individual and community opinion allowed parliamentary democracy to take strong root in India.  Despite our cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity we find that our parliamentary system provides a unifying link for the people of India.  Your own recent journey to parliamentary democracy has many aspects of what we faced and continue to face in our search for an ideal system of democratic governance in complex societies.  I commend you for this endeavour to establish a democratic parliamentary system.

          In the maintenance of democratic traditions and institutions the role of Parliament remains pivotal along with a free and responsible press, an independent judiciary, other independent state institutions and respect for the rights of citizens.  The role of Parliament in debating government policy, keeping control of government finance, and providing guidance to the executive are important facets which we in India have come to cherish.  Parliament remains the major link between the people and the Government.  Hence, training and capacity building in parliamentary procedure and systems are important ingredients to make parliamentary functioning effective.

          Democratic government has many advantages.  As the noted Nobel laureate and Economist Amartya Sen, has said “Famines do not occur in democracies....This is because a government in a multi party democracy with elections and free media has strong political incentives to undertake famine prevention”.  We too believe that political freedom and democratic institutions are a great safeguard of our economic freedom and our freedom of choice in our developmental models.         

          I am delighted to learn that the Indian system of parliamentary democracy has found resonance in your journey to further systematise and strengthen your democratic institutions.  The visit of your Parliamentary delegation to India last year allowed for beneficial exchange of views.  

I am happy to learn that this distinguished committee has expressed its interest in India’s democratic experience and development processes.  Some of your Members of Parliament, particularly women members, have visited India under our Distinguished Visitors Programme.  This is reflective of a willingness to engage from both sides.  I can assure you that I will spare no efforts to reinforce this engagement.  In this context,  I am glad to learn of the contribution of one of our senior Parliamentary official, Mr. G.C. Malhotra, who, I am glad to see is also present here today.

           India has been privileged to receive in recent months a series of ministerial visits from Ethiopia as well as a number of study tours in diverse fields.  This has provided us with opportunities to learn from each other and share not only our experiences, but also our respective strengths, so that mutually beneficial socio-economic relations can be established.  A healthy flow of Indian investment has begun into Ethiopia.  We aim to encourage this and to enhance it.  Similarly, Indian companies are joining the challenge of infrastructure development in Ethiopia, in which we have also contributed through a line of credit of $65 million for rural electrification.  We would endeavour to encourage more such interaction, so that the core competencies and experiences of Indian companies can be shared in a cost effective manner and become a part of Ethiopian development.

          During this visit, I have been impressed by the emphasis placed in Ethiopia on education and human resource development.  Since the early part of the 20^th century, Indian teachers have been well known in Ethiopia and several eminent Ethiopians have also studied in India.  Even today, a large number of Indian professors teach in Ethiopian universities.  In recognition of this clear preference for human resource development, Ethiopia volunteered to test the pilot project for the Pan-African e-Network Project.   The tele-education and tele-medicine projects at Addis Ababa and Haramaya Universities and Black Lion and Nekempt Hospitals have allowed us to bring the best of Indian technology and experience to cater to the needs of our friends in Ethiopia.  We believe that the e-Network Project will help the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in the education and health sectors.  I take this occasion to thank the Government and people of Ethiopia for their warm response to the pilot phase of this Project.  We would welcome efforts to expand it.          

Distinguished Chairmen of the Committees, Hon’ble Members of Parliament,

          In the changing world today, we have to recognise that there will be both opportunities and challenges.  Developing countries need to work together more closely to ensure that our space in the new arena is not compromised.  India and Ethiopia will no doubt continue to work together towards this end.   Changes in the international arena, unfortunately, are not adequately reflected in international organisations charged with ensuring peace and development in the world.  The United Nations system has shown some responsiveness to change, but in critical areas, such as reform of the United Nations Security Council, the post-War mentality of the last century still prevails.  India and Africa understand what is required to make the UN Security Council more responsive and representative of current international realities.  India is, by all objective criteria, ideally placed to contribute through permanent membership on an expanded UN Security Council.  The sustained support received from Ethiopia for this endeavour has been a source of encouragement for us.  We also believe that, along with India and others, Africa too must find its true place through permanent seats on an expanded UN Security Council.  It will be our endeavour to work with African countries to achieve this end.

          India and the countries of Africa have a tradition of working very closely in regional and international organizations.  This is manifest, for instance, in our participation in NAM and G-77 and, most recently, through the G-20 process, in WTO.  It will be India’s consistent endeavour to persevere with such cooperation. United, we developing countries can achieve their objectives.  Divided, we will be unable to benefit adequately from the growing forces of globalization.

In this context, we attach great importance to the Doha Round of trade negotiations which are currently underway.  Agricultural protectionism has grown, despite the rules of GATT and WTO, and unless there is a significant rollback in developed countries, the interests of developing countries will not be met.  Without progress on agriculture, it will also not be possible to meet the fundamental objective of the Doha Round, namely the “development” of developing countries.  This is a core interest for both India and Ethiopia and our other partners in Africa, and we will continue to work with you in this regard.

          Climate Change and Energy Security are subjects that, of late, have come to the forefront of the international agenda.  We in India have long been constructively engaged in global efforts to protect and preserve the environment. Contrary to suggestions from interested parties, India’s emissions of greenhouse gases are amongst the lowest in the world.   We are determined, that in per capita terms, this will not exceed those of developed countries, even as we continue our rapid and sustained economic growth.  In discussions on climate change, solutions that are found must take into account the primary responsibility of those responsible for the present levels of GHG concentrations.  No solution can be accepted that would perpetuate poverty in developing countries.  This is an area on which we are and which we will continue to cooperate closely with Ethiopia and other developing countries.

          Excellencies, the evil of international terrorism has not yet been eliminated.  It will require international cooperation on an unprecedented scale to make this happen. Terrorism is a major violator of human rights and democratic freedoms.  As a long suffering victim of terrorism sponsored, aided and abetted from outside our borders, we are fully aware of the necessity to remove this cancer from international society, which should follow a policy of zero tolerance towards it.  We would wish to strengthen our cooperation with Ethiopia in our endeavour to jointly defeat international terrorism.

          India’s commitment to peace and security in Africa is of long standing. This was manifest not only in our unwavering support in the African continent’s struggle against colonialism and apartheid, but also in India’s substantive and consistent participation in all major UN peacekeeping operations in Africa.  Our commitment to peacekeeping in Africa remains steadfast, and currently we have almost 7,000 troops deployed in Sudan, on the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea and Democratic Republic of Congo.  Our participation in the UN peacekeeping operations in Africa stems from our deeply held belief that ensuring peace and security is a pre-requisite for the socio-economic development of our friends in the continent.

          Excellencies, I have had a most productive and satisfying visit to Ethiopia.  In discussions with Their Excellencies, the President, the Prime Minister, the Speaker, the Foreign Minister, the Ministers for Trade and Industries, Finance and others, we have taken significant decisions to advance our bilateral relationship in the political, trade and economic, education, HRD, agriculture, defence and other spheres.  I have also earlier today inaugurated the pilot project for the Pan African e-Network that was conceived by the President of India, and whose aim is to share India’s achievements in Information Technology with our friends in Africa through provision of tele-education and tele-medicine facilities.  We believe that this project would be significant advantage in your efforts to spread the benefits of medicine and education in Ethiopia.

          Before I conclude, I would like to take the opportunity to sincerely thank the Ethiopian Parliament, the Hon’ble Speaker and the Hon’ble Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign, Defence and Security Affairs for having provided me this opportunity to address you.   I am deeply touched by this honour, which is a reflection of not only our close ties, but also of the empathy between our two democracies. 

Thank you.

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