Day 51 – Q 5.Do you think India has played its cards well in Africa? Discuss. Isn’t Africa slipping out of India’s hands and getting proximate to China? Examine its implications? . (International Relations)
5. Do you think India has played its cards well in Africa? Discuss. Isn’t Africa slipping out of India’s hands and getting proximate to China? Examine its implications? .
क्या आपको लगता है कि भारत ने अफ्रीका में अपने कार्ड अच्छी तरह से खेले हैं? चर्चा करें। क्या अफ्रीका भारत के हाथों से बाहर नहीं निकल रहा है और चीन से निकटता प्राप्त कर रहा है? इसके प्रभाव की जांच करें।
Synopsis:
India’s relation with Africa has been a historical one. In recent years, these ties have been sought to be imposed with deeper economic and strategic relationship. For both China and India, bolstering economic ties are of paramount importance though Africa’s trading patterns with the Asian giants still remain rather traditional; Africa exports raw materials and imports manufactured goods.
While India-Africa trade grew from $11.9 billion 2005-2006 to $62.66 billion 2017-2018, it is still no match to China, which is now Africa’s largest trading partner $166 billion in 2011. The Indian private sector has yet to take full advantage of the investment climate in Africa.
Let us see the difference between India and china’s approach; trade and investments are only part of the story, we can see how they have fared in their approach:
- Indian engagement lays emphasis on the long term: enhancing Africa’s productive capacities, diversifying skills and knowledge, and investing in small and medium sized enterprises.
- On the other hand, China’s approach is more traditional: resource-extraction, infrastructure development and elite-level wealth creation.
How well India could able to play its cards in Africa?
- Some of the countries like Sudan gave India share in oil field which was controlled largely by China because they didn’t want China to have 100% share in oil field.
- Nigeria also did the same which wanted that all of their resources should not be controlled by one country.
- President of Zambia ran on a wildly anti-china platform with increased Chinese investment and labourers, giving no jobs to locals.
- The beneficiary is Vedanta which was allowed to take copper industry to the point that Vedanta is slated to be 26% of Zambia’s entire GDP.
- India has benefited and the bulk of work done in Africa is running on its own scheme.
- At the core of this is the rise of Indian private sector investment along with large number of state owned enterprises, PSUs investing, especially in oil and gas industry.
- India is not sorely resource driven in African engagement. A lot of Indian investments growing into Africa is not only about resources any more. It is about financial services, telecom, hospitals and education.
Issues with India Africa relations: (just for information)
- India is not alone in having an Africa-centred strategy. Our competitors on the continent, such the European Union, China, Japan and the U.S. also have IAFS-type processes and often commit even more resources than we do.
- India’s political and economic relations with African states have generally been overshadowed by the more prominent “Sino-African relations”
- Economic ties with Africa are mainly left to private operators and middlemen in India
- Security threats and conflicts in North Africa have brought to the fore the high risk nature of investments in the African region
- Growing influence of Islamic state and other terrorist organisations also present risk for Indian investments
- Piracy related concerns and kidnapping of the vessels in the littoral areas are also areas of concern for India
- Alleged racist attacks against African students and nationals in India and similar incidents in African states involving Indians have the potential to deteriorate people-to-people ties
Is Africa is slipping out of India’s hand to china and its implications?
- India has been said to be little laggard in the way it has dealt with Africa. China is way ahead making inroads into the continent. However, it is a wrong way to look at India’s relation with Africa.
- India shouldn’t be looking through the prism of China which is galloping in Africa. India has a very old relationship with Africa.
- There is trade taking place, Gujarati traders have known to be coming and settling down in east Africa.
- When it comes to African National Congress, India was deeply embedded in African struggle, INC led by J.N. Nehru had an African policy. So, Africa has been very important. Thus, it is not a recent thing.
- South Africa and India are working and dealing with each other since 1994. But in terms of larger economic engagement, it has risen primarily because India had money to invest post liberalisation and when India began to look better 2006 onwards.
- The credit limits given to African nations has increased with time. Thus, it is a gradual process of building up ties with African nations.
- So the implications should be seen as independent of china and every country has its own strengths and weaknesses, and the way India is engaging with the African countries should be very different and look for long-term relationship perspective.
Conclusion:
It is inevitable that as the centre of gravity of global politics and economics shifts to the Indo-Pacific region, emerging powers like India and China will begin to play a larger role in Africa. There are significant differences in their approaches, and the challenge for them would be to develop partnerships with African nations in a way that makes Africa a part of their growth stories to.
Best Answer: niharika
