India, Ghana hold Foreign Office Consultations to strengthen bilateral ties

India and Ghana held the third round of Foreign Office Consultations on Friday to discuss ways to further strengthen bilateral relations covering political, economic, defence, cultural and capacity-building matters.

On the Indian side, the discussions were led by Sevala Naik Mude, Joint Secretary of the Central and West Africa Division (C&WA) whereas Deputy Foreign Minister of Ghana, Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong led the Ghanian side.

"The two sides also exchanged views on regional and global issues of interest and agreed to enhance their cooperation in the multilateral fora," according to the statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs.

According to the statement, the relations between India and Ghana have traditionally been warm and are based on shared historical ties, values and vision. There have been regular visits taking place from both sides. The bilateral trade and Indian investment in Ghana have been growing steadily.

The bilateral trade between India and Ghana during 2021-22 was USD 2.60 billion. India is one of the largest investors in Ghana, Indian companies had invested over USD 1.7 billion in Ghana over 730 projects in diverse sectors including construction, manufacturing, trading, pharmaceuticals, agro-processing, services, tourism, etc.

According to the statement, the talks were held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere. Both sides agreed to hold the next consultations in Accra (Ghana) at a mutually convenient date.

The second edition of India-Ghana Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) took place on July 2, where both sides agreed to take steps to enhance the depth and momentum of engagement which would be to mutual benefit.

A Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) release said Rahul Chhabra, Secretary (ER) from the Indian side and Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from the Ghanaian side co-chaired the Meeting.

The co-chairs took stock of the exchange of bilateral visits, holding of Joint Commission Meeting, bilateral trade and investment, development partnership, capacity building, defence cooperation, security-related issues, people-to-people linkages, pending MoUs, regional, and global issues.

Ghana noted with appreciation the visit of Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan from January 6-7 to attend the inauguration of President Akufo-Addo for his second term as President of the Republic of Ghana.

During the visit, Secretary (ER) also called on Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of Ghana. While briefing on the fruitful discussions held in the FOC, he apprised her of the progress made in the bilateral relations since the last FOC held in 2019. Minister expressed her satisfaction with the state of bilateral relations and thanked for the support extended by India from time to time on various issues including the Covid-19 pandemic.

The talks were held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere. Both sides agreed to hold the next consultations in New Delhi at a mutually convenient date.

( With inputs from ANI )