Five MoUs Inked During Vice-President’s Visit to Zimbabwe

New Delhi/ Harare, Nov 3 (UNI) Five MoUs were signed between India and Zimbabwe during the visit of Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu to the African nation on Saturday.
Mr Naidu met his counterpart in Zimbabwe, Mr Kembo Mohadi and held delegation level talks as he began the second leg of his three-nation Africa visit from Harare.
Both the Vice-Presidents witnessed the signing of five MoUs for the cooperation in the areas of Geology, Mining and Mineral Resources; Traditional Medicine and Homeopathy; Art, Culture and Heritate; Collaboration on Broadcasting; Visa Waiver Agreement for Diplomatic Passport holders; and one Action Plan on Information and Communication Technology.
Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Krishan Pal Gurjar and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

The Vice-President congratulated Zimbabwe for conducting free and fair elections recently.
He called on Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa . During his interaction with the President of Zimbabwe, Mr Naidu said, ‘India and Zimbabwe enjoy historic ties and we need to strengthen them to a much higher level.’
He thanked the Zimbabwe Government for signing the Frame Work Agreement on International Solar Alliance and requested them to ratify it at an early date .

The Vice-President said that India will take up the establishment of the Mahatma Gandhi Convention Centre in Zimbabwe, as a grant assistance, keeping with our celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi this year.

Mr Naidu said that India is offering 8 slots for Zimbabwe defence personnel for training under ITEC for this year which is doubled the training slots from 4 last year to 8 this year. ‘We should look at greater engagement particularly in the context of sourcing defence equipment from India,’ he said.

The Vice-President said that India has consistently voiced the need to have a strong resolute response to terrorism and its manifestations and India is committed to working towards fighting and elimination of this menace. ‘We need to work together, particularly at the United Nations and other multilateral fora to fight it,’ he added. The Vice-President said that India is extending another Lines of Credit (LOC) of 310 million dollars for extension of life of Hwange Thermal Plant, which is of priority to Zimbabwe.’We also enhance the funds for two LOC projects pertaining to Thermal Plant Project at Bulawayo and Deka Pipe laying project for USD23 million and USD19 million, respectively to complete them on time ,’ he said.
The Vice-President said that three grants projects namely, Vocational Training Centre (VTC), up-gradation of Indo-Zim Technology Centre (2.92 million dollars), and supply of ten ambulances and life-saving drugs are in progress. India may also support Zimbabwe in development of Micro & Mini Grid, Smart Grids and Hybrid Renewable Energy Technologies, he said.

Later in the evening, the Vice-President addressed the India Zimbabwe Business Forum meet and narrated the India’s growth story and the reforms that taking place.

‘There are natural synergies between the two economies and we need to tap them for our mutual benefit,’ he said.
Urged the business community to consider investing in India, he said Zimbabwean companies can take advantage of the high growth trajectory of the Indian economy, according to an official statement.
The Vice-President is on a three-nation visit to Botswana, Zimbabwe and Malawi and accompanied by a high-level delegation for the six-day visit to Africa.

Source:UNI

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