New Delhi, Nov 13 (Inditop.com) It is up to African countries to decide what kind of partnership they want with India, said a senior Indian academic.
“It is up to Africa and its nations to decide what kind of help they want from India,” said Ajay Dubey, chairperson of the Centre for West Asian and African Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, at a discussion on “Asia and Africa” this week, organised by the African Studies Organisation.
He noted that India had also its interests in pursuing closer relations with countries in Africa, which include support for reforms of the United Nations Security Council and to secure energy supplies.
However, Dubey said India has faced the problem of ensuring that its aid or help is delivered to the people. “It is very difficult to implement and deliver democracy,” said Dubey.
According to a Chinese professor who spoke at the seminar, it would be wrong to term China’s interest in Africa negatively as a “scramble for resources”.
“It is assumed that since China is not democratic, whatever it does is bad. This is not so,” said Wang Suolao, an associate professor at the School of International Studies in Peking University.
Wang noted that China’s trade with Africa, which stood at $107 billion, was not even one percent of its total trade.
“Only 13 percent of Africa’s oil comes to China,” said Wang, refuting repeated statements that China’s greed for African oil was detrimental for the continent. “Chinese investment in oil just about 1/16th of global investment in Africa.”
According to Roland Marchal of Paris-based Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches Internationales, Japan, the third Asian power in Africa, has been traditionally prone to give soft loans or grants, rather than seek investment. “ODA (official development assistance) is a good way to be part of the development, but Japan’s ODA in Africa is different from its ODA to Asia,” he said.
He added that Japan was also more inclined towards debt consolidation, as its soft loans and grants were not high, compared to other Asian powers.
