On India-Africa summit eve, PM Narendra Modi hails continental ties with Africa

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Taking about the historic ties between India and Africa, he said: “It is said that thousands of years ago, this (India and Africa) was a single land mass. Later, due to the Indian Ocean, it split into two… There are a lot of similarities between us… Around 27 lakh Indians have been living in Africa for a long time.” He said while India and Africa had economic and political ties, the most notable factor of the relationship was education provided by India to African youth. Over 25,000 African students have got education in India, he said.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said it was “inconceivable” and “incomprehensible” that India and the Africa still don’t have permanent membership of the UNSC.

In her inaugural address at the 3rd India-Africa Editors Forum, she said, “The Security Council continues to be representative of a world order of 1945. It is inconceivable that the Security Council today does not have any permanent representation from Africa, which is the largest continent in terms of number of countries. It is also incomprehensible that India, which represents almost one-sixth of world’s population…, is still out of it. We all need to work together to remove this anomaly…”