Visit of President to Namibia

• President of India has visited Namibia from 15 - 17 June.
• President Mukherjee addressed the Joint Session of Namibian Parliament on June 16.
• The issue of Uranium supply was one of the prominent features of the talks, and Namibia committed to honour the deal signed with India in 2009 to supply Uranium for civil use.
• The two countries also discussed ways to further enhance co-operation in the mining and exploration of other minerals, including zinc and marble.
• India offer 100 tonnes of medicines as grant-in-aid over the next three years with a view to assisting the Namibian side implement the health goals envisaged under the ‘Harambee Prosperity Plan’.
• Both Countries decided to promote people-to-people contacts, including through visits of cultural troupe and enhanced tourism flows, needed to be encouraged further and resolved to take necessary measures in this regard

President Pranab Mukherjee and his Namibian counterpart Hage Geingob signed two MoUs.:

• MOU On Establishment Of A Centre Of Excellence In Information Technology (Ceit) Between The Ministry Of Higher Education, Training And Innovation Of The Government Of The Republic Of Namibia And The Ministry Of External Affairs Of The Government Of The Republic Of India and
• MOU Between Namibia Institute Of Public Administration And Management (NIPAM) Of The Republic Of Namibia And Indian Institute Of Management Ahmedabad Of The Republic Of India Concerning Technical Cooperation In The Area Of Capacity Building Of Public Officials

Analysis:

• India and Namibia enjoy longstanding, excellent and time-tested ties that predate Namibia’s independence. Over 1 000 Namibians have trained in India. Several Indian experts from government and the private sector have been involved with policy formulation in the country since its independence.
• The volume of trade, at present, between the two countries is comparatively speaking small – however, there is tremendous potential to further enhance trade and economic ties between India and Namibia.
• Namibia despite being one of the largest producer of Uranium and having a treaty with India for peaceful use of nukes does not supply the fuel to India because of Palindaba treaty among African Union countries which bars export of the element to non-NPT signatories.
• The strength of Namibian economy is mineral with mining sector which contributes around 11 per cent to the GDP and it fetches 50 per cent of their foreign exchange earnings making them highly dependent on that.
• Namibia is blessed with rich natural resources and an abundance of mineral wealth. Their efficient extraction and value addition using environment-friendly methods will contribute to the sustainable development of this sector of your economy

By: Vishal