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Hamid Ansari offers Indian expertise to train Tunisians in IT and education
Tunisian prime minister Habib Essid has called for the promotion of tourism between the two countries
Tunis: Indian vice-president Mohammed Hamid Ansari has offered India’s expertise in information technology and education to train Tunisian citizens as Asia’s third largest economy looked to deepen ties with the strategically located north African country and the African continent as a whole.
Ansari, who arrived in Tunis on Thursday on the second leg of a two-nation Africa tour, went into talks with prime minister Habib Essid, who was named the head of the government last year following the adoption of a new constitution in 2014, three years after the ouster of president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in the “Arab Spring” protests.
“Our discussions on bilateral relations focussed on our ongoing economic partnership and on incorporating newer areas of collaboration in information technology and education,” Ansari said. “We will be happy to receive 350 Tunisian citizens for training in our institutions in different streams as our guests over the next five years,” the vice-president said.
India’s offer is to be seen in the context of its ties with Africa that rests mainly on capacity building, or skilling of African people. Thousands of African students are studying in Indian universities and private education institutions. Following the second India-Africa Summit in Addis Ababa in 2011, India pledged to establish 10 in-country training institutes—like the India-Africa Diamond Institute located in Botswana, and India-Africa Institute of Foreign Trade run out of the University of Burundi and offering full-time and part-time masters of business administration course to African students. Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who hosted the third India-Africa Summit in New Delhi, announced 50,000 scholarships for African students.
India’s stress on capacity building comes as it tries to beat off competition from China which has some $200 billion in trade with Africa (compared to about $70 billion in the case of India) and is engaged in construction of infrastructure projects like roads, ports and soccer stadia.
Ansari’s six-day visit (30 May to 4 June) to Tunisia and Morocco is aimed as a follow-up to the third India-Africa summit held in New Delhi in October, given that the next summit is to be held after five years in 2020. This is the first visit by an Indian vice-president to Tunisia in almost five decades.
Besides Ansari’s, there are other visits planned to Africa to consolidate ties. PM Modi is set to travel to east Africa in July, where he is to visit Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique, besides South Africa. President Pranab Mukherjee will travel to West Africa later this year to Ghana, Ivory Coast and Namibia.
Ties with Tunisia
According to a note posted on its website by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Tunisia has been a reliable source for phosphates for India, which accounts for around 50% of Tunisia’s global phosphoric acid exports. “This is extremely important to us given our emphasis on food security,” said an official, who did not want to be named. Exports from India include automobiles, electrical items, cotton, rubber and rice, besides spices. The annual bilateral trade during 2015 was worth $34.25 million, the ministry note said.
PM Essid called for promotion of tourism between the two countries. This is significant given that tourism is a key industry in Tunisia and news reports say that Essid has been making efforts to revive the Tunisian economy. However, attacks by the Sunni militant Islamic State (IS) group on presidential guards in November in the capital Tunis, besides on foreign tourists, have reportedly damaged the economy. India’s efforts to train Tunisians could also help in keeping young unemployed Tunisians from joining the ranks of the IS.
According to a statement posted on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) website, dated 2 June 2016, “The IMF has approved a four-year, $2.9 billion loan for Tunisia to support the authorities’ economic agenda aimed at promoting more inclusive growth and job creation.”
“Tunisia faces weak economic activity, low employment, high external imbalances, (the) IMF loan to support the government’s economic vision of more inclusive growth, (the) program includes reforms to tackle high unemployment, strengthen governance,” it said.
Once praised as a model for democratic transition since its 2011 revolt ousted former president Ben Ali, Tunisia has mostly avoided the violent aftermath of other “Arab Spring” countries—like Libya—which also toppled long-standing rulers, but are yet to establish credible governance institutions. But the Tunisian government is seen as yet to come up with a strategy to deal with the IS. News reports also say many young unemployed Tunisians, tired of a slowing economy, are falling prey to IS propaganda and are joining the group.
In his remarks, Ansari on Thursday said that he had conveyed to PM Essid “the felicitations of the people of India... on the successful transformation of Tunisia into a vibrant multi-party democracy and conveyed our good wishes for its continued success.”
On terrorism, Ansari said that the two countries had agreed that successfully dealing with such threats requires strong cooperation among like minded partners. We have... decided to enhance our cooperation in counter-terrorism.”
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Business NewsPoliticsPolicyHamid Ansari offers Indian expertise to train Tunisians in IT and education
First Published:3 Jun 2016, 09:04 AM IST
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