The Statesman tends to steer away from economic cooperation and partnerships concentrating on long-term goal-oriented results. The article however spends too much time avoiding comparisons to the greedy west and energy hungry China. Interesting enough, but not very well balanced reporting.

The first ever India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi on April 8-9 brings together top functionaries and heads of governments of 14 African countries with their Indian counterparts to raise an old friendship to a new level. The summit is being held at a plastic juncture in world politics when the old order of unipolarity is giving way to a new distribution of power spread out more evenly across Asia, Europe and North America.

New Delhi has a longstanding programme called Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) through which thousands of nominees from African countries have been imparted training in defence preparedness, agriculture, small scale industries, entrepreneurship, engineering, telecommunications and engineering. ITEC has provided valuable support to the Afro-Asian Rural Reconstruction Organisation and inaugurated cooperation with regional African groups like the Southern African Development Community. The summit meeting on April 8-9 should strengthen this pillar of India-Africa partnership to neutralise fears that New Delhi is wooing Africa solely for greed of mineral treasures.

By upgrading initiatives like ITEC to the entire member base of the African Union, India can send the message that its intentions in Africa are not exploitative in the typical Western fashion. Indian diplomats are sensitive to the charge that they are courting Africa in order to compete geopolitically with China in an energy hunt. New Delhi has rejected appeals to team up with European and North American companies in Africa.