Prime Minister Visit to Tanzania

Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed his visit to Tanzania as part of his four-nation Africa tour aimed at enhancing ties with the continent, particularly in the economic sphere.
Highlights of the visit:

• Indian Prime minister has met 'Solar Mamas', a group of rural women solar engineers from Africa who have been trained under Government of India-supported programmes to fabricate, install, use, repair and maintain solar lanterns and household solar lighting systems in their villages.
• India is working on a number of other water projects for 17 cities in Tanzania. And for this India is willing to consider an additional $500 million line of concessional credit Public Health is another important area of our engagement.
• Being neighbours across the Indian Ocean, both countries agreed to deepen our defence and security partnership, especially in the maritime domain
• Both countries agreed to deepen India-Tanzania ties in agriculture, food security, trade, natural gas and other vital sectors
• India and Tanzania have signed five agreements. The agreements were signed following delegation-level talks headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tanzanian President John Magufuli.
• India will extend a line of credit of $92 million for the rehabilitation and improvement of the water supply system in Zanzibar.
• A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on water resource management and development was also signed.
• Another MoU seeks to establish a vocational training centre in Zanzibar.
• An MoU was also signed on visa waiver for diplomatic and official passport holders.
• An agreement was also signed between the National Small Industries Corporation of India and the Small Industries Development Organisation of Tanzania.

Analysis:

• Tanzania and India have traditionally enjoyed close, friendly and co-operative relations. From the 1960s to the 1980s the political relationship was driven largely by shared ideological commitments to anti-colonialism, anti-racism, socialism in various forms as well as desire for South-South Cooperation.
• Tanzania has about 50,000 people of Indian origin. They are concentrated in the major urban centres of Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Dodoma, Morogoro, Zanzibar, Mwanza and Mbeya.
• Tanzania announced in February it has discovered an additional 2.17 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of possible natural gas deposits in an onshore field, raising its total estimated recoverable natural gas reserves to more than 57 tcf. India wanted to get benefits out of it.
• This visit can also be seen to offset Chinese influence in the continent. India is seen as trying to play catch-up to its fellow Asian giant China in terms of economic, trade and diplomatic ties with African countries.
• India is the 3rd largest trading partner of Tanzania, after the UK and China. Bilateral trade between Tanzania and India was $3573.63 during 2014-2015, of which exports to India constituted $1089.03 million and imports from India were $2484.60 million
• Tanzania needs to envision stronger economic relations with India in trade, investment and agriculture, counter-terrorism, maritime safety and security, education and culture, natural resources and tourism and health and medicine.

By: Vishal