PM leaves for Tanzania on three-day visit

From V Mohan Narayan
Addis Ababa, May 26 (PTI) Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh Thursday left on three-day visit to Tanzania to take the
bilateral ties forward in a comprehensive manner.
Singh's visit is the first by any Indian head of
government after September 1997. It is also the first head of
government visit from a non-African country after President
Jakaya Kikwete assumed the second term following the general
elections last year.
For India, Tanzania is an important partner in Africa.
India and Tanzania have played a significant role in
the process of decolinisation and they struggled against
apartheid. The two countries were active in developing the
process of south-south cooperation for the benefit of the
developing world.
The bilateral trade was over USD 1.1 billion in 2010
and the imports covered a number of agricultural commodities.
India has become the second largest investor in
Tanzania with total cumulative investments of USD 1.3 billion
till 2009.
Prime Minister Singh and Kikwete will tomorrow hold
wide ranging discussions to find ways and means for upgrading
and further consolidating the bilateral ties in a
comprehensive manner, a senior official said.
There will also be focus on the two countries'
partnership in the development process of Tanzania through
education, capacity building and infrastructure development.
Tanzania is Prime Minister's second leg of his six-day
visit to Africa. He left for Dar-al-Salam after co-chairing
the second Africa-India Forum Summit and also held bilateral
meetings with his Ethiopian counterpart Meles Zenawi.
At the end of the Summit, the Addis Ababa Declaration
was adopted which called on all countries to ensure that acts
of cross-border terrorism do not occur and that their
territories are not made a base for terrorists.