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Transcript of Special Briefing by Secretary (ER) on Prime Minister's Visit to Nigeria (November 17, 2024)

India - Ministry of External Affairs

November 18, 2024

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I warmly welcome you to this Special Briefing on the ongoing State visit of the Prime Minister of India to Nigeria. We have with us Shri Dammu Ravi, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, to brief us on the visit. We are also joined by our High Commissioner to Nigeria, Shri G. Balasubramanian. With that, I give the floor to Secretary (ER) to make his opening remarks. Sir, over to you.

Shri Dammu Ravi, Secretary (Economic Relations): Thank you, Randhir. Well, good afternoon to all of you, and I would like to give you just a brief overview of today's discussions. As you are aware, Prime Minister of India, Honorable Shri Narendra Modi Ji, is on a State visit to Nigeria. This is his first visit to Nigeria and to the West African nation. This visit of the Prime Minister of India to Nigeria is happening after a gap of 17 years. We just concluded the official talks, and let me give you a snapshot of the visit so far.

Prime Minister arrived in Abuja yesterday evening, as you all are aware. Upon arrival, he was received by Minister for Federal Capital Territory, His Excellency Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, who offered the key to the city of Abuja to Prime Minister. This was a special gesture from the Nigerian side. At the airport, a large number of Indian community members had also gathered to greet the Prime Minister. Similar was the case upon his arrival at the hotel.

This morning, Honorable Prime Minister was received by President Tinubu at the State House and accorded a ceremonial welcome with 21-guns salute. Thereafter, the two leaders held talks in two formats, first at the one-on-one meeting and thereafter a meeting at the delegation level. Prime Minister and President Tinubu reaffirmed their support and commitment to strengthening India-Nigeria Strategic Partnership.

Prime Minister fondly recalled the visit of President Tinubu to India for the G20 Meeting in September 2023. He also conveyed sympathies for the destruction caused by the recent floods in the country.

The two leaders discussed bilateral cooperation in the field of trade, investment, defence, security, education, health, culture and people-to-people level at the delegation level talks. The two leaders also focused on further enhancing the strategic partnership in various sectors, in particular, in agriculture, pharma, railways, transportation and development cooperation fields.

As you all are aware, the India-Nigeria relationship is very strong, underpinned by a strong economic cooperation and trade and investment. There are about 200 Indian companies who have invested about $27 billion in this country and the two leaders have discussed ways to further expand this economic partnership for the mutual benefit of the two countries. Indian companies are also creating a large number of jobs in Nigeria.

Capacity building with a large number of scholarship and digital education methods, Nigerian students have availed significant facilities both in this country and also in India under the ITEC program. Both leaders have also discussed global and regional issues and in that context they have reiterated their commitment to further deepen their commitment to the Global South and how to take forward the agenda of the Global South in the global discourse, particularly to meet the aspirations of developing countries.

In keeping with the very special ties shared between India and Nigeria, President Tinubu conferred on Honorable Prime Minister Modi the highest award of the Order of Niger, the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger for his contribution to strengthening India-Nigeria ties. Prime Minister Modi is the first foreign leader to be conferred this National Award since 1969. While accepting the award, Prime Minister dedicated the honor to India-Nigeria friendship and to the people of India.

During the talks there have been exchanges of three Memorandums of Understandings covering areas of cultural exchange program, customs cooperation and survey cooperation. President Tinubu hosted a State banquet in honor of Prime Minister Modi.

In short, while from now Prime Minister will address a gathering of the Indian community in Nigeria. As you are aware, the Indian diaspora has deep roots in Nigeria. There are about 60,000 Indian diaspora in Nigeria who are involved very successfully in several areas of economic cooperation and partnerships. They have been living in this country for several decades and their contribution to Nigerian society is widely recognized.

In the evening later, Prime Minister will depart Abuja for Rio de Janeiro to participate in the G20 Summit where Nigeria has also been invited as a Guest Country. I'll stop here and if any further questions, I'll be happy to take; me and my colleague on dias. Thank you.

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: We now open the floor for questions. As you ask a question, please do introduce yourselves so that we get you right in our records. Thank you.

Innocent Odoh, Leadership Newspaper: Thank you so much your excellencies. My name is Innocent Odoh. I write for Leadership Newspapers. You have mentioned quite a number of very important areas of collaboration between Nigeria and your country, India, where our President has also discussed with your Prime Minister. So I'm just looking at the area of agriculture that you mentioned and they were more specific about building the capacity of the Nigerian agro-community farmers to build up their businesses in Nigeria using the Indian connection. How much of that do you think will boost that capacity, according to the discussion you have with the Prime Minister and with our President? And the other one is that you mentioned the issue of the Global South. Things are changing around the world right now. Of course, the U.S. election has introduced Donald Trump as the new President of America. So how can we collaborate with India to boost the chances of the Global South in the complex and complicated international politics, especially at this current time? Thank you, Sir.

Vishal, DD News: Sir, I'm Vishal from DD News, Delhi. My question is, India has now become an exporter in defence production. Defence products are being exported to around 100 countries. So, was there any discussion on the defence issue, because companies from India, they had a kind of show here in Abuja, I was told by the High Commissioner. And the second one is regarding the digital economy. India has set an example across the world. So, is Nigeria also ready to take on the experience and expertise of India?

Benny, Channels Television: Good afternoon. My name is Benny Ark. I'm a correspondent with Channels Television, Abuja. My question will go to the High Commissioner of India to Nigeria. And that's, given Nigerian-Indian historical ties, what steps have been taken to address trade imbalances? And also what implementing strategy during this visit of the PM to the President was discussed to also see how this goes down to local SMEs and not just the large corporations. Thank you.

Emanuele Labecki, Vanguard: Good afternoon, your excellencies. My name is Emanuele Labecki. I write for Vanguard. I want to ask, with all these areas of cooperation between India and Nigeria, Nigeria at this moment is in dire need of investment in the area of oil and gas. Especially this period, the President just removed the fuel subsidy, which is biting very hard on Nigerians. So I want to ask, with the coming of the Prime Minister, are you also looking into the area of investing in Nigeria oil and gas sector? Thank you.

Bridget Onochie, The Guardian: Good afternoon, Your Excellencies. My name is Bridget Onochie and I am of The Guardian newspaper. Yes, I want to ask concerning the area of pharmaceutical and medicine generally. We know that India is one of the destinations for medical tourism, and with this friendship strengthened or renewed relationship, do we see possibilities of more Indian hospitals in Nigeria with experts to handle those major terminal sicknesses that Nigerians usually go to India, at least to save the cost? Thank you.

Shri Dammu Ravi, Secretary (Economic Relations): Okay, thank you very much for these questions. So what I'll do is some which I can answer, I'll do it myself, then I'll ask the High Commissioner to supplement them. Well, first question on the Global South. In the context, there is a very strong commitment for both leaders to deepen this understanding that the agenda of the development, which is so dear to the Global South countries, is taken forward, and the global discourse is built on that development agenda. I think India and Nigeria are well positioned to play that role, both now and the G20. India is a strong partner, and also African Union, which is now a permanent member of G20, and Nigeria is a very strong country within the AU, and is also an inviting country for the G20. Also, Nigeria, given that it's become a partner country in the BRICS, in different ways, both India and Nigeria can take up the agenda of development and put it in the center of the global discourse, and that's the idea, and both leaders have discussed about the need to continuously address the aspirations and challenges of the countries in the Global South.

On the development issues, we talked about the sharing of experiences between the two countries. Also, through the Voice of the Global South, Nigeria has actively participated in the Voice of the Global South Summit that India has organized, and Prime Minister's leadership took the lead in that. Nigeria has been continuously with us on that front, and also in the context of the Global South itself, there is a need for sharing of experiences. Some of the local solutions that India has developed are very effectively implemented in our own country, can be customized to the countries in the Global South, and Nigeria can play a catalyst role and also a partnership role on that front. So I think the official delegations and experts subsequently will be talking about this, and both sides will be discussing further how we can take forward.

In the digital space, there is a lot to achieve. In the energy space, in the renewable energy space, to fight the climate change, there is, again, a significant scope for both countries to come forward. On the agriculture front, yes, there have been serious talk today in the delegation level talks, including on how we can both, India and Nigeria, work towards the food security concept in the Global South for developing countries. And in that context, the idea of seed supplies, the mechanization, the tractors, research and development, collaboration on that front, and storage and distribution, the lentils; all these ideas came up in the delegation level talks. But I think we will be further building on these ideas subsequently at the expert level. And there is a lot of scope. I think Nigeria and many African countries provide an opportunity for Indian entrepreneurs to be able to grow food crops in this part of the world and help in the food security.

I think those are the ideas. I'll ask High Commissioner to supplement on other items. Thank you.

Shri G. Balasubramanian, High Commissioner of India to Nigeria: Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. You had asked about the trade imbalances and what steps are being taken. There are new areas, while Indian companies are very strong in the traditional areas of manufacturing in Nigeria, with more than 200 companies having invested $27 billion in the economy here. There are new areas that are being identified, which include, as we discussed, the agriculture part of it, particularly, say, lentils and other things which are being considered as a possibility. Then irrigation services, seed, hybrid seed development, research and development on good seeds, climate resistant seeds and other things are being considered. So that, that area can also come into focus between the two countries. So we talked about mining, we talked about various issues pertaining to small and medium enterprises, the skill development part of it. Already we have some expert who had been training for more than six months in SMEDAN over here, entrepreneurial development skills. And also through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation where we have been sending people to India for skill development, that also came into focus. So we would be considering all these things to one, diversify the areas of our cooperation in trade and economic relations, as well as to strengthen our trade cooperation.

You did ask about oil and gas investment. There was a very good concentration of topic on oil and gas investment. Some Indian companies are already working on the CNG areas, which is the focus area of the President also. There are companies which are working in CNG's citywide network as well as setting up the outlets for CNG over here. CNG kits are being also sent over here so that it can be put in the cars and vehicles to use the CNG.

On pharma and medicine, you already know that there are nearly $4 billion of investment by Indian companies in the pharmaceutical sector here. There are already existing eye hospitals of India here in Abuja and in Lagos as well as another multi-specialty hospital. I can also tell you that there is going to be a bigger hospital, a 300 bedded hospital that has come up in Abuja which will be opened very shortly with experts, doctors and technicians and others from India with modern technology, so that hospital chain would also be expanding itself into other geopolitical areas too. So, there is a lot of activity taking place in the healthcare sector too. Thank you.

Vishal, DD News: We are also very proud that it's not only the Prime Minister is here year after 17 years but it is also the highest National Award that has been conferred upon the Prime Minister. So, how does it reflect on the growing relations between the two countries and also on India's position as the leader of Global South?

Shri Dammu Ravi, Secretary (Economic Relations): Thank you Vishal. Let me clarify that point to you. In a ceremony today at the State House, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu conferred the National Award on Prime Minister as the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger for the statesmanship of Honorable Prime Minister and his stellar contribution to fostering India-Nigeria ties. The Award and citation notes that under Prime Minister's visionary leadership, India has been positioned as a global powerhouse and his transformative governance has fostered unity, peace and shared prosperity for all.

Now just coming back to your item on the defence cooperation, as you know that both the countries have a Joint Defence Committee which is headed by the respective Ministries at the Joint Secretary level. India has helped in the setting up of the National Defence College here and also the Naval Guard College. So, you know, there is an ongoing cooperation in the defence and also a lot of capacity building under ITEC is being rendered and also purchase of equipment is an ongoing thing on a commercial basis. So the defence cooperation is deepening between the two countries. I'll pause here.

Francis Udojo, Nigerian Television Authority: Your Excellency, my name is Francis Udojo, I record for Nigerian Television Authority. My question is towards the economic growth of India that has been rated to about 7.2%. This is a wonderful growth. I would like to ask, what kind of policy, what would you say is the major policy put in place that has given India this kind of growth? And what should Nigeria do to reach this point? And then my last question is this. In terms of politics, Nigeria is doing well too. We are trying and we are looking at ICT, the use of ICT. In what way can Nigeria boost this aspect of technology to help our electoral system?

Joshua Odeyemi, Daily Trust: Okay. So my name is Joshua Odeyemi. I write for the Daily Trust Newspaper. So Nigeria is one of the African countries interested in occupying the proposed permanent seat for African countries. And the countries currently seeking their, you know, cooperation and support from other countries. I don't know if these issues were discussed. If this issue was discussed during the Prime Minister's discussion with the President and what is India's position if India will support Nigeria?

Shri Dammu Ravi, Secretary (Economic Relations): Well, on your question about economic growth and how India has been able to achieve such high levels of growth consistently. Well, you know, in the Global South we all have to learn from each other and that's very fundamental. And there are certain practices that India has introduced. Initiatives that have been introduced in the last 10 years have really reaped huge benefits. Focus on infrastructure, corridors that have been built along the national infrastructure roads, railways, airports. I think that is what fuels the economic growth. Then, a lot of focus on the ICT, the digital infrastructure that has been created, I think that brought in a lot of transparency and benefits and also enabled the common man empowerment.

And then in the economic sphere, while the big industry has a big role in developing capacities, but a lot of focus on the MSME. Because we should not forget that the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises have a big role in terms of job creation and sustaining the jobs at the local level. And Prime Minister himself has focused significantly on the policies that will enable ease of doing business. And now he's also talking about ease of living. And I think in the combination of factors. So we also know that, you know, like Nigeria, in India too, we have very young people in the country. So what is essential is the right education and the skilling.

So Skill India, under the initiative Skill India, there's a lot of emphasis on making youngsters, while they're doing formal education, also be able to pick up good skills for the use of the industry. And that's an ongoing program. And we are very committed to that. Prime Minister's initiatives have yielded a lot of benefit for the economic growth. But you know, it's a multi pronged approach. We cannot say there's only one policy that has helped us. In several ways I think it's helping the economy grow forward. But we would also like to partner with countries like Nigeria. I know both of us have similar challenges and aspirations. These are developmental challenges. People are increasingly aware and aspirational in the way their outlook is. So we can learn from each other, we can help each other to move forward. I think India and Nigeria are that way well positioned to partner.

In terms of the question on the UN Security Council membership, you know, this is an ongoing exercise, and we need to build this understanding that there's a need for the UN reform. And that is the fundamental. The world has changed since the 1945, when the UN came into existence, and thereafter, there's not been much change. So, in terms of the global governance, it's important that the reform takes place. And that can only happen when countries like ours, India and Nigeria, and a large number in the Global South, are able to speak with one voice on the need for reform and accelerate that process. So in that sense, Nigeria and India are on the same page. We have to keep working on that in different forums to sensitize the countries on the need for... Our position in terms of the expansion of the UN Security Council has been same, but Africa has its own consensus to be arrived at as and when it consenses. But I think we should begin with the idea that the reform is necessary, and it has to be done quickly.

Thank you very much. And I think we are running out of time. There is a community address by the Prime Minister just now.

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Thank you, sir. With that, we come to the close of this Press Briefing. Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen for your presence.