PM Modi Meets African Union Chairperson Évariste Ndayishimiye, Calls for Early India-Africa Forum Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Évariste Ndayishimiye, Chairperson of the African Union and President of Burundi, on September 13 on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, with the two leaders discussing India’s expanding engagement with Africa as well as bilateral cooperation between India and Burundi.

The meeting placed particular emphasis on strengthening institutional engagement between India and the African Union, while also reviewing cooperation in economic development, agriculture, healthcare and capacity building.

India-Africa Partnership Seen as Pillar of Global South Cooperation

During the discussions, the two leaders recalled India’s role in supporting the African Union’s admission as a permanent member of the G20 during India’s G20 presidency in 2023. They underlined that stronger cooperation between India and the African Union remains an important component of wider collaboration among countries of the Global South.

Both sides also discussed convening the fourth India-Africa Forum Summit, or IAFS-IV, at an early and mutually convenient date. The proposed summit would provide an opportunity for India and African countries to review their development partnership and identify new areas of cooperation across trade, technology, infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare, education and capacity building.

The India-Africa Forum Summit has served as one of the principal institutional platforms for India’s engagement with African countries, bringing together political leadership from across the continent and providing a framework for development-oriented cooperation.

Modi Praises African Union’s Response to Ebola Outbreak

Prime Minister Modi commended the leadership of the African Union for its efforts in combating the Ebola outbreak and highlighted the importance of coordinated public-health responses across the continent.

Ndayishimiye, in turn, expressed appreciation for India’s medical assistance to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The support contributed to efforts aimed at containing the outbreak and strengthening Africa’s public-health response capabilities.

Healthcare has increasingly become an important component of India-Africa cooperation, particularly through pharmaceutical supplies, medical training, digital-health initiatives and institutional capacity building.

India and Burundi Review Development Partnership

The two leaders also reviewed the broader relationship between India and Burundi, describing bilateral ties as being founded on longstanding goodwill, solidarity and common development aspirations.

Discussions covered economic cooperation, development partnership programmes, agricultural modernisation, healthcare and capacity-building initiatives. These areas remain particularly relevant for Burundi as it seeks to strengthen agricultural productivity, human-resource development and public services.

India has traditionally approached its development partnership with African countries through demand-driven projects, training programmes, lines of credit and technical cooperation. The discussions between Modi and Ndayishimiye indicated that this model will continue to shape India’s engagement with Burundi.

BRICS Summit Expands India’s African Outreach

The meeting also carried wider diplomatic significance because it took place during the BRICS Summit, where greater representation and participation of developing countries have become an important part of discussions surrounding reform of global governance.

India has repeatedly argued that international institutions must better reflect the economic and political weight of Africa and other developing regions. New Delhi’s support for the African Union’s permanent membership of the G20 was one of the most visible examples of this approach.

The Modi-Ndayishimiye meeting therefore went beyond bilateral India-Burundi relations. It reflected India’s broader effort to strengthen political, developmental and institutional partnerships with Africa while positioning cooperation among countries of the Global South as an increasingly important element of the emerging international order.

---