India- Relations

Political Relations

Relations between Nigeria and India have always been warm and friendly, without any contentious issues. India established a diplomatic mission in Nigeria in 1958, even before Nigeria became independent in 1960. Both countries have been in the forefront of the worldwide anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggle and have collaborated in various international fora. Following his landmark visit to Nigeria in September 1962, Prime Minister Pandit Nehru and Nigeria’s first Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa developed mutual respect and admiration. Similarly, historic visit to Nigeria by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in October 2007 gave a new fillip to the bilateral ties. Similarities in colonial struggle against British, large multi-ethnic, multi-religious and developing societies have created bilateral affinity. Both share common perspectives on international political, social and development issues and these have manifested in various meetings at UN, WTO, etc. Nigeria is strongly opposed to all forms of terrorism.

Bilateral Visits

2. Indo-Nigerian relations gained momentum with the State Visit of President to India in January 2000 as Chief Guest at the 50 th Republic Day celebrations and the visit of the then EAM to Nigeria in March 2000 to co-chair the Third Session of India-Nigeria Joint Commission.

3. Prime Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee visited Nigeria in December 2003 to participate in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM-2003).

4. President Obasanjo paid a working visit to New Delhi on November 3, 2004 and held discussions with the Hon’ble Prime Minister.

5. Hon’ble Speaker of Lok Sabha Shri Somnath Chatterjee along with a large delegation visited Abuja from September 1-10, 2006 to attend the 52 nd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Abuja.

6. The contemporary bilateral context was defined during PM Dr Manmohan Singh’s official visit to Nigeria on October 14-16, 2007. During the visit – which filled a 45-year gap - an Abuja Declaration on Strategic Partnership was issued laying out the future contours of the bilateral relations.

7. Then Vice President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan visited India from November 4 – 7, 2007 to attend the Federalism Conference. A high level delegation attended the India – Africa Hydrocarbon Conference from November 6 – 7, 2007. The Vice President again visited India to attend the India Africa Forum Summit from April 4 – 8, 2008 in New Delhi.

8. Shri Anand Sharma, Special Envoy to PM, MOS(AS) visited Nigeria on July 27- 28, 2008.

9. Chief Udenwa, Nigerian Commerce & Industry Minister, took part in Doha Round Informal Conference in New Delhi in August 2009. 1

10. Shri Anand Sharma, Minister for Commerce & Industry visited Nigeria on 15-17 January 2010 to attend the ‘Namaskar Africa’ event jointly organised by FICCI.

11. Shri Murli Deora, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas paid a bilateral visit to Nigeria from 25-26 January, 2010.

12. Nigerian Labour and Employment Minister Prince A. Kayode paid a bilateral visit to India in January 2010

13. Defence Minister Maj Gen (retd) Godwin Abe led Nigerian delegation to DefExpo in February 2010

14. A Nigerian delegation led by Science & Technology Minister Prof. M.K. Abubakar visited India on 23.08.10 to participate in the Bangaluru Space Expo (25-28 August, 2010).

15. Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister of State(IC) for Corporate Affairs and Minority Affairs represented India at the 50 th anniversary celebrations of Nigeria’s Independence (30 September-2 October, 2010).

16. Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister for Water Resources Minority Affairs again represented India at swearing-in ceremony of Hon’ble President Goodluck Jonathan on 29 th May 2011.

17. On May 7 2011, Shri RPN Singh, MoS(Petroleum & Natural Gas) paid a courtesy call on Nigerian President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in Abuja to deliver Hon’ble PM’s letter of invitation for the second Africa India Forum Summit.

18. Nigerian Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo participated in second Africa- India Forum Summit held in Addis Ababa on May 24-25 2011.

19. Prof. (Mrs.) Ruqayyatu Rufai, Minister for Education of Nigeria visited New Delhi (Sept 8-10, 2011) and participated in the E-9 Countries Conference.

20. A large delegation led by Governor of Delta State visited India in October 2011 in connection with the proposed Mega-Fertilizer Project in Koko Free Trade Zone, Delta State which is being set up in collaboration with Nagarjuna Group of India.

21. H.E. Ms. Hajia Zainab Ibrahim Kuchi, Nigerian Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs visited India from 31 October, 2011 to 3 November, 2011, to inspect institutions where a number of ex-militants from Nigeria are being trained under Federal Government’s amnesty scheme.

22. Election Commission: A 9-member Nigerian delegation visited India on September 21 to study Indian election system. They were received by Chief Election Commissioner and had a visit to IIDM in New Delhi.

23. Trade delegation: An 11-member Nigerian delegation from Kaduna Chamber of Commerce and Industry visited Mumbai from May 31 to June 2, 2011 and was hosted by Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 2

24. A 10-member delegation of Nigerian House of Representative Committee on Diaspora Matters led by Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa left for India (6/1) to observe the 11 th Pravasiya Bharatiya Divas in Jaipur.

Commercial and Trade Relations

19. With a population of 158 million and considerable revenue from oil exports, Nigeria is the largest trading partner of India in Africa. Nigeria is also the largest market in Africa for Indian exports. A large number of Indian companies have footprints in Nigeria, which have made substantial investments in Nigeria. Bilateral annual trade turnover was over US$ 13 billion in 2010-11 registering the growth of over 50%. The trend is continuing during 2011-12 showing the growth of 57% as per details given below:

(Apr-Sept 11, nearest USD Million) India’s Exports India’s imports Total Trade with % Growth Partner Apr-Sept Apr-Sept11 Apr- Apr-Sept11 Apr-Sept Apr-Sept 11 country 10 (% growth) Sept10 (% growth) 10 (% growth) Nigeria 881 1101 (25%) 4944 8058 (63%) 5824 9160 (57%)

20. Our export basket to Nigeria was dominated by manufactured items such as refined petroleum products, machinery and instruments, pharmaceuticals, electronics, steel, power transmission equipment, transport equipment etc. The bilateral balance of trade has traditionally been in Nigeria’s favour, due to large Indian imports of crude. The trade figures for the earlier years clearly show the rising trend in the bilateral trade over the years:

2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006- 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 07 1 Indian 565.49 644.68 874.03 903.48 1083.34 1529.26 1408.25 Exports (20% (41% y-o- (-8 %) to growth) y growth) Nigeria 2 Indian 75.64* 48.40* 72.46* 7026.93 7616.09 8900.35 7287.91 imports (8.47% (14.1% y- (-18%) from growth) o-y Nigeria growth)

*Excluding oil import figures

21. Oil Trade: In recent years Nigeria has been one of the main sources of crude for India. Nigeria is highly important for our energy security matters as we import around 8% to 12% of our crude requirements from Nigeria.

22 . Hydrocarbons Sector : Apart from trade in hydrocarbons, Indian presence in Nigeria’s upstream sector has arrived at a critical threshold of participation in the upstream sector and refining. During 2005-07, Indian companies participated in Nigerian bid rounds and won 6 oil blocks: ONGC Mittal (OMEL) (3: OPL279, OPL285 & OPL297), Sterling (2: OPL2005 & OPL2006 – the crude has started flowing since 2 nd half of 2011) and Essar (1: OPL226). 3

23. Other Economic Activities : Over 100 Indian companies are estimated to have footprints in Nigeria. Prominent among them being Bharti AirTel, Tata, Bajaj Auto, Birla Group, Kirloskar, Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, NIIT, ApTech New India Assurance, Bhushan Steel, KEC and Skipper Electricals. India has pole positions in Nigeria’s pharmaceuticals, steel and power transmission sectors. In addition, Nigeria based ethnic Indians are also economically very active in such areas as consumer manufacturing and retailing, construction and air-services

24. Air Services : There are no direct air services between India and Nigeria. The two sides met in Mumbai in October 2011 on the sidelines of ICAN and signed the agreed minutes of the meeting. Air travel between India and Nigeria involve transfer at a hub, with Dubai, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Cairo, Doha, Frankfurt and London being popular.

25. Pan African e-Network Project: On February 26 2009, the inauguration of Pan African e-Network Project at TCIL, New Delhi by then Hon’ble EAM, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, was attended by Prof. Dora Akunyili, Nigerian Minister of Information & Communication at the Learning Centre, University of .

26. ITEC/SCAAP : During 2009-10, Nigeria was able to utilise 85 out of 100 allotted fellowships. The 130 seat ITEC quota for Nigeria for the year 2010-11 was fully utilised. Following second Africa-India Forum Summit, Nigeria’s ITEC quota for 2011-12 has been further increased by 15 to 145 and full utilisation is anticipated.

Culture

27. Indian films are quite popular in Kano, Kaduna and other Northern States and local channels regularly telecast Indian films. For the last two years in succession, namely, 2010 and 2011, India has been participating in Abuja Carnival. ICCR sponsored Rajasthan folk troupe visited Nigeria in 2010 and Theyyam Group from Kerala enthralled the Nigerians in Abuja Carnival 2011. These troupes performed in Lagos and Theyyam group performed in Kano as well.

28. NRI/PIO Community : Total Indian community in Nigeria is estimated to be 35,000 persons. Out of these about 15,000 are thought to be foreign passport holders and about 20,000 are Indian nationals. In general, Indians in Nigeria are well off and enjoy non-controversial existence. Some Indians have been affected by criminal incidents esp. kidnappings and armed robberies in various parts of Nigeria. The community runs a CBSE affiliated Indian Language School in Lagos with nearly 2,000 students. It also has two temples in Lagos and a number of cultural and ethnic associations, most prominent of which is Indian Cultural Association.

January 2012

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