India-Uganda bond reflects relationship of heart, mind: Hamid Ansari

Kampala (Uganda) Feb. 24 (ANI): Emphasizing the bond between India and Uganda, Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari, on Wednesday, said that the bond between the two countries is beyond commercial as it has risen to relationship of heart and mind. "This is a relationship which goes beyond the normal economic and commercial relationship and relations of convenience between two countries. This is a relationship of the heart and mind and it is a relationship which is committed to developing closer relations between our nations to mutual benefits not one sided benefit," said Vice President Ansari. Vice President Ansari, while addressing the Indian community event, asserted that India extends full support to the government and the people of Uganda. "It is the policy of the Government of India and Prime Minister Modi has consistently emphasized this, that India wants to build a new vibrant relationship with Uganda relevant to the 21stcentury in which our approach is not to prescribe but to cooperate," he added. He further said that India made certain commitments way back after independence and have been consistent in pursuing them. "We do not tell our African partners what they should do and what they should not because they know better than us what is their requirement. But if they have a requirement and they need a helping hand of India, we will always be there to assess them," Ansari said. Talking on the matters related to economic cooperation, he said, "the Indian economic scene has changed, the Indian capacities have grown and today we are in a position to contribute more meaningfully to cooperative ventures with our friends abroad." "We want to look at the relationship with our African friends not in terms of the equations of the 20th century but the new emerging requirements which underline the equation and which will promote the equation of the 21st century," he added. He asserted that the secret of any society's development lies in the empowerment of its people, starting with the youth. "The government of India has recently decided that over the next five years it would offer 50,000 scholarships in India to students of Africa," Vice President Ansari said. Agreeing with the President of Uganda he said that both the countries should be looking at the Indian capacities to create here in Uganda. "I am very confident that initiatives will be taken and such initiatives will receive full support from the government of India as it would receive the full support of government of Uganda," Ansari added. This is India's first bilateral visit to Uganda, since 1997 and seeks to further engage India with Africa. Vice President Ansari paid three-day official visit to Uganda, with a delegation comprising Minister of State, Vijay Sampla, four Members of Parliament, other Senior Government Officials and a business delegation. (ANI)