Nigeria
and India would mark 60 years of diplomatic relations in 2018 since the
establishment of such relations in 1958. Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Nagabhushana Reddy, said this at an
event to mark the 69th Republic Day of India on Friday in Abuja.
Reddy
said that both countries had over the years remained strategic partners with
improved levels of cooperation between them with a bilateral trade volume of
9.4 billion dollars in 2017. “India is now the largest
trading partner of Nigeria globally and Nigeria is the largest trading partner
of India in Africa with bilateral trade of 9.4 billion dollars last year,” he
said.
Both
countries have had existing relations in various areas including agriculture,
defense, trade, capacity building, healthcare, infrastructure and
socio-cultural relations.
The
envoy, in a separate interview, said that most of the trade was reliant on oil
import from Nigeria, which stands at 80 per cent compared to 20 per cent of
Indian exports to Nigeria.
He said:
“Though, we are the largest purchaser of crude oil from
Nigeria, there is room for improvement. The trade balance is 80-20 where 80 per
cent is what we import from Nigeria and 20 per cent we export which is
essentially in pharmaceuticals, engineering equipment, automobile to some of
the specialised products particularly in the power sector. We also have some
amount of fuel being sold here by Indian oil companies.”
Gathered
from the website of India’s Ministry of External Affairs is that India imports
around 12 per cent of its crude oil requirements from Nigeria. The ministry
stated that petroleum imports from Nigeria accounted for 7.46 billion dollars
out of total imports of 7.65 billion dollars in 2016 to 2017. India’s imports,
however, declined significantly by 23 per cent to 7.65 billion dollars during
the period 2016 to 2017 as against 9.94 billion dollars registered during the
period 2015 to 2016 due to the fall in crude oil prices in the international
market. The decline, however, did not affect India’s amount of oil imports from
the country.
Furthermore,
India’s exports to Nigeria declined from 2.22 billion dollars in 2015 to 2016
to 1.77 billion dollars in the period of 2016 to 2017 due to Nigeria’s internal
security and economic recession. The Indian high commissioner added that India
was an emerging development partner of Nigeria with emphasis on sharing of
knowledge and experience with a view to improve capacity building in diverse
areas.
He
reiterated that about 500 training programmes annually were offered under the
India Technical and Economic Cooperation programme. Furthermore, he reiterated
the readiness and commitment of his government extend developmental assistance
for projects of national importance to Nigeria.
Director
of Regions of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olusola Iginla, expressed optimism in the relations
shared between both countries. Iginla reaffirmed Nigeria’s readiness to cooperate
in the conclusion of all outstanding agreements to strengthen bilateral
relations.
He said:
“I will conclude by expressing Nigeria’s gratitude to
the Indian High Commission for sustaining the excellent relations that exist
between the two countries. I also request that the high commissioner conveys
the willingness of the Government of Nigeria to partner with the Government of
India and its private sector in accelerating the Economic Recovery and Growth
Plan of Nigeria for the mutual benefit of both countries.”
NAN
reports that January 26 marked the Republic Day of India and 2018 would mark
the 70th anniversary of the country’s independence from colonial rule. (NAN)
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