India, Ghana celebrate seven decades of partnership

India and Ghana have reiterated their resolve to work together to scale-up bilateral relations between the two countries for mutual benefit.

At a maiden ceremony in Accra Friday night to celebrate more than 70 years of fruitful partnership, the two countries expressed their commitment to strengthening their partnership in the areas of trade and investments, knowledge sharing and skills transfer, and technology among others.

The Celebration, which is expected to be an annual event, assembled a number of dignitaries comprising State officials, Members of Parliament, traditional leaders, and members of the business community at the residence of the Indian High Commissioner in Accra.

In attendance were Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, National Security Minster; Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, Volta Regional Minster; Mr Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, a Deputy Minister, Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration; Togbe Afede XIV, Agbogbomefia of Asogli State; Mr Sam Okudzeto, a Member of the Council of State, and Mr Carlos Ahenkorah, MP for Tema West among other dignitaries.

India opened its representative office in Accra in 1953, prior to Ghana’s independence and established full-fledged diplomatic relations with Ghana in 1957, immediately after it attained independence.

Addressing the gathering at Friday night’s ceremony, Mr Sugandh Rajaram, India’s High Commissioner to Ghana, said the purpose of the celebration was to mark the “spirit of India-Ghana relationship” and celebrate “the strong bond of love and friendship”.

“The bedrock of our relationship is the oneness of our people and our culture; that is what is at the heart of the celebration of our partnership,” he said, adding: “Economic relations is our bedrock but we want to scale it up to new heights”.

Mr Rajaram said India and Ghana had enjoyed intense bilateral relations for decades – more than any other country that India shared a strong bond of cooperation with.

He said India had been supporting Ghana’s development by providing assistance in developmental projects through provision of Lines of Credit (LoC) and grants.

“In the last two decades we have extended more than half a billion dollars of Concessional Credit to Ghana for development projects and another half a billion dollar for new projects for critical infrastructure,” he said.

Mr Rajaram said India had entered the critical phase of its development trajectory in the next 25 years and that the country would focus on small and medium enterprises and leverage their skills to transform agriculture.

Mr Ampratwum-Sarpong expressed profound gratitude to India for the support extended to Ghana in the last decades and pledged the readiness of Ghana to continuously work with India to advance the development of both countries.

“The support from the Government of India to Ghana is indeed a testament of the fruitful partnership between the two countries, which is worth celebrating,” he said.