India, Tanzania agree to explore new areas of cooperation to boost bilateral ties

India and Tanzania have agreed on a roadmap to further boost their time-tested ties by identifying new areas of cooperation in sectors like trade, investment, agriculture, defence and education, the foreign ministers of the two countries said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday met Tanzania's Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Stergomena Tax at the 10th India-Tanzania Joint Commission Meeting here.

Jaishankar said the two sides had a very productive round of the Joint Commission.

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"This gave us an opportunity to do a stocktaking of our relationship to discuss what are the new areas that we need to move forward. Also, to agree on how to deepen our cooperation in the areas that we have been working on for many years," he said.

Among the domains that the two sides looked at was their economic cooperation, and how to increase trade and investment. The two sides also discussed how to promote stronger collaboration in ICT (Information and Communications Technology) and technology.

"We spoke about expanding training and exchanges within us. And we looked at areas like health, agriculture, defence and education as new domains to go between India and Tanzania," he told reporters.

He said India and Tanzania have a very strong and time-tested relationship which is based on solidarity and camaraderie which comes from a shared struggle for independence during the colonial times.

"And from the very beginning of our independence, we've always had a very good understanding. Today, that is reflected in a very robust economic engagement. We have a trade of almost six and a half billion dollars annually," Jaishankar said.

He said India has significant Indian investment in Tanzania, which is the country's key trade partner in Africa.

Talking about their bilateral development partnership, Jaishankar said India is proud of the water partnership between the two nations.

"Water Partnership which involves soft loans of almost a billion dollars, which when the projects are completed, will bring safe drinking water to 8 million Tanzanians. I think it will cover 28 towns in this country. And for us, it's a great privilege to be associated with such a major transformational development initiative," he said.

Jaishankar said during his visit, the two sides agreed on a new flagship project -- the establishment of a campus of the Indian Institute of Technology -- that would underline the deep friendship between the two nations.

"...for the first time ever, the IIT is going abroad and we are very very pleased that this should take place in Zanzibar, because in many ways, Zanzibar is a meeting point of African and Indian cultures," he said.

So overall, it has been a very productive visit, he said.

"I would like to end by emphasising that Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi believes that the deep solidarity between India and Africa must be expressed in very practical terms in a way in which we share experiences, we share capabilities, we contribute to each other's understanding of the world.

"And today, this joint commission meeting and the roadmap that we have put forward is a way of doing it because Prime Minister Modi deeply believes that partnerships are made by recognising the priorities of partners," he said.

Tax said the two sides noted with satisfaction the milestones in various areas including politics, trade and investment, energy, education, water, health, ICT and defence and agreed to reinforce cooperation in these areas.

The decision to establish the first Indian Institute of Technology in Zanzibar will contribute to the efforts of Tanzania in enhancing capacity in technology and innovation.

Tanzania remains committed to continue partnering and cooperating with India, she said.

During his stay here, Jaishankar also called on Tanzanian President Samia Hassan of Tanzania and discussed bilateral ties in defence and security, maritime cooperation and capacity building.

He also conveyed the personal greetings of President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Modi to President Samia.