Abidjan: India and Cote d’Ivoire discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation in defence and anti-terrorism, including through training and capacity building, during External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to the West African country.
Jaishankar arrived in Cote d’Ivoire on Wednesday, October 7, from Ghana on the second leg of his three-nation tour of African countries, which also includes Ethiopia.
The EAM met with Côte d’Ivoire’s Deputy Prime Minister Téné Birahima Ouattara in Abidjan and discussed the growing defence partnership between the two countries.
“We spoke about our growing defence partnership, underpinned by mutual trust, capacity building and shared interests,” Jaishankar posted on social media after the meeting.
“Exchanged views on opportunities to further our cooperation in defence & anti-terrorism, including through training, capacity building and enhanced institutional exchanges,” he said.
Ouattara, who is also the Defence Minister of Côte d’Ivoire, said that the discussion with Jaishankar “focused on strengthening cooperation between Côte d’Ivoire and India.”
“This meeting reaffirms our shared commitment to consolidating a strategic partnership in service of peace, security, and development,” Ouattara posted on social media.
Earlier, Jaishankar held talks with Cote d’Ivoire’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Niale Kaba, on strengthening bilateral ties, with a focus on trade, infrastructure, agriculture and healthcare.
Jaishankar said he had “comprehensive discussions” with Kaba on advancing India-Cote d’Ivoire partnership, “including in trade, investment, infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare and people-to-people ties”.
“Underlined that our people-centric cooperation will be driven by the priorities of Cote d’Ivoire,” he said in a social media post.
The two sides also discussed deepening their engagement in multilateral fora, he said.
In Addis Ababa, Jaishankar will also chair the Regional Heads of Mission (HoMs) Conference that is expected to be attended by Indian envoys in the region.
Earlier, in Ghana, Jaishankar held discussions on expanding comprehensive partnership between the two countries into new areas including pharmaceuticals, health, mining, defence, railways and digital sectors.
Jaishankar’s visit is reflective of India’s commitment to deepen its partnership with Africa, and will further New Delhi’s solidarity with the Global South, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said ahead of his visit to African nations.
