India–Africa Relations: Changing Horizons

Abstract

I ndia’s partnership with Africa has come into the limelight in recent years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Address to the Ugandan parliament in 2018 reiterated that Africa is a high priority for India’s foreign policy. India-Africa Relations: Changing Horizons by Rajiv Bhatia is a welcome addition to the literature on India’s engagement with the African continent. In this volume, Bhatia has put to good use, the insights gained during his 37-year innings in the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), particularly his term as India’s High Commissioner to Kenya, South Africa and Lesotho. The focus of this book is on analysing India-Africa relations in the past two decades. Why is it so important to study the changing horizons or the changing relationship between India and Africa? The author makes it clear right in the beginning: by 2050, India and Africa will be home to 4.1 billion people accounting for 42 per cent of humankind. How they relate to each other is indeed a subject of global interest. While the title of the book suggests it to be a study of India-Africa relations, the reader gains insights on several other important issues. It gives a clear picture of why Africa is often hailed as the continent of the future; whether it is in terms of population or economic growth. Notably, four of the fastest growing economies in the world belong to Africa including Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Ghana and Rwanda. African leaders have been pushing for ‘African solutions for African problems.’ In the words of the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, ‘Africa’s story has been written by others, we need to own [up to] our problems and solutions and write our story.’ The author discusses the innovative plans and mechanisms initiated by the African countries, such as the African Union’s Agenda 2063. This reflects a pan-African vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa. The innovative framework of the African Peer Review Mechanism, to which 33 of the 54 countries agreed, reflects the enthusiasm within Africa to self-evaluate on issues related to governance. The launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in 2019 is another step taken by African countries to enhance the economic integration process. The author provides a stimulating analysis of India’s relations with African countries. While the focus is on the relationship in recent years, the author takes a quick peep into the history of India-Africa relations mainly to re-emphasize the point that India-Africa relations are not new and go back centuries. He provides Strategic Analysis, 2022 Vol. 46, No. 6, 638–640, https://doi.org/10.1080/09700161.2022.2149986