Representatives from 14 African nations were in New Delhi for the first-ever India-Africa summit, which just ended today. (The India-Africa Summit follows closely on the heels of the China-Africa summit of November 2006.)
Attendees signed off on the Delhi Declaration and the Africa-India Framework for Cooperation, pledging cooperation in the areas of energy, terrorism, climate change and UN Reforms. An informal and equally important outcome: India is looking to play a far more prominent role in Africa’s economic development than China in coming years.
My uncle Gobind is a retired World Bank developmental economist who has served as economic adviser to the government of Ghana. I asked him to share his thoughts on this historic summit.
“While India is less prominent than China in Africa today, both in trade and investments and aid,” he said, “it is more respected than China because of its image, its democracy, its presence in education, industry– especially pharmaceuticals and railways, and IT. There is growing interest in Africa in India, but it is not yet a hot issue, except for mining companies and the new private oil companies like Reliance. India is currently big in Sudan, DRC, Nigeria, Zambia and S. Africa. But it’s increasing its presence everywhere.”
The Emerging Economy report, released yesterday, underlined the role of Indian corporations in driving new technology usage in Africa. From the Earth Times [full story link]:
Chinese corporations have made significant investments in Africa over the past decade. For example, China’s Civil Engineering Construction Corporation is building the $8.3 billion railroad linking Lagos and Kano. However, the Report also points out that Indian entrepreneurs have long enjoyed trading relations in Africa, particularly along the continent’s east coast, running from Kenya down to the tip of South Africa. In the early part of the 20th century Indian engineering and consumer brands were considered as reliable as those coming from Europe. Bilateral trade between India and Africa increased from less than US$ 1 billion in 1991 to over US$ 9 billion in 2005. Today, the Government of India is aiming to achieve a trade turnover of US$ 500 billion by 2010.
My grandfather might be one of those Indian entrepreneurs referred to above. In the 1930s, Dada came to West Africa as apprentice to an Indian trading company. He ended up placing his roots down in Ghana where he opened a chain of movie theatres and imported movies from India and China for a rural audience. From Kumasi, the second-largest city in Ghana and the “capital” of the Ashanti kingdom, Dada explored the many cut-out kingdoms and colonies of West Africa, forging links with locals and other Indian expatriates and expanding his import-export business over the years. “Indian companies like my grandfather’s were important in promoting imports with other parts of the Commonwealth at the time,” Uncle Gobind told me. “The contribution was to provide cheaper and better quality consumer products, and to introduce new trading methods and sources to African countries.”
“Very few Indians went into industry, and where they did, they did not last. Nigeria may be an exception,†observes Uncle G. (Then, there’s Tata Motors, which has been in Africa since the ’70s. They announced on Wednesday that the company will expand its businesses in the continent, including assembly operations of pick-up trucks and buses in Sengal and Congo. [more on Tata’s vision in Africa])
Overall, the reputation of Indians in Africa has been positive, except where their presence has been used for political gains, as in 1969 in Ghana when the government passed a law requiring foreign investors and industry to re-invest at least 60 percent of their profit within Ghana. This essentially meant that non-Ghanaian nationals could not singly own businesses. My grandfather had acted fast and wisely, immediately forging a partnership with his good Ghanaian friend. Over the years, my family’s ties to my birthplace have remained strong, whether it is through continued business relations with local companies or intermarriage.
I realized just how strong these ties were when I made my first journey to my birthplace Kumasi without my parents back in 2000. I found myself speaking to my father everyday to ask him what I need to see before returning to the capital, Accra. “Talk to Mr. Appiah and ask him to take you to visit the Queen Mother, Yaa Asantewaa,” Papa told me when we spoke on the phone. “She’s almost 90 years old and I’m sure you will learn a lot by going to see her. Besides, she is like a mother to me.” 
As a child growing up in Ghana, Papa was fluent in the local language Twe and had played football with the Queen Mother’s son. Throughout his adulthood, my father continued to pay regular visits to pay his respects to the Ashanti royalty.
The “Queen Mother” whom my father was referring to is the female head of the Ashantis, the ruling tribe of the largest area and kingdom of Ghana, the Ashanti region, famous for its gold and its rich cultural heritage. She governs the Ashanti nation along with the Asantehene, the “king” who is chosen by her, area village chiefs and the Ashanti people.
I pictured her – ancient, wrinkled and in a throne, wearing heaps of gold and being fanned by kente clad attendants. Would I bow down to her? Try to greet her in Twe, the local language or resort to a translator?
When I asked Mr. Appiah, my father’s accountant whether he could take me to meet her, he was delighted. “Yes, yes,” he beamed. “She is like your grandmother. She will be sooo happy to see you. Eh eh.” He put a call in to the palace and soon we were on our way. We stopped at Shirdi Bazaar, an Sindhi shop, to buy her a gift – a bottle of Red Label Johnny Walker Whiskey. This, I would present to her along with 100,000 cedis in cash. In Ghana, this is an appropriate gift, even for royalty. My father’s accountant had pulled out a calculator and punched away, concluding, “For you, this is only $41.”
We arrived at the palace, a strange group of visitors. There was Mr. Appiah, clad in a white shirt, black trousers and sandals. Apart from being an accountant, on Tuesdays he serves as a chief in the local court held at the Queen Mother’s palace. Here, in a three-walled room overlooking a courtyard, civilians gather to file complaints about ills done unto them. The group of chiefs acts as judges, along with the queen who sits on her throne – an elevated step in the front of the room that I almost sat on before I was stopped by Mr. Appiah. Then, there was Maggie, the daughter of Mr. Ashan, one of the main managers of my father’s company here in Kumasi. Attractive and soft spoken, she was my age. She was wearing a white and brown skirt suit and looked quite the business woman. At that time, she was job hunting – she has studied Marketing and PR and was finding it difficult to land a position in town. Steven was the third member of our gang. My uncle’s driver who has been taking me around for the past few days, he seemed amused by all of this. Amused and yet, eager to participate in our adventures. Last, there was me – wearing blue jeans, a gray tank top and sandals. I felt under dressed and wonder whether I was fit to meet nobility.
The palace, a simple set of cement buildings that held an open courtyard in the center, was not quite what I expected. Outside, a police officer guarded the entrance and asked us the purpose of our visit. He recognized Mr. Appiah and looked at me curiously, ultimately deciding to speak to me in Twe. He knew that I would not understand and waited for me to tell him so.
“The Queen Mother is busy. She is handling some cases at the moment,” he repeated, this time in English.
“Oh,” said Mr. Appiah, “We have just called and she is expecting our visit. This is Mr. Nankani’s daughter. She is the grand daughter of the queen for the queen has taken her father as her son!” He laughed.
The officer appeared more interested in me now. He suggested that I visit the museum after our meeting, stressing that I would have to pay 5000 cedis because I was a foreigner.
“Oh!” exclaimed Mr. Appiah. “But she was born here and she is visiting her grand mother.”
The officer pondered that one for a moment. “Yes, yes, you are from here after all. If you were born here, even if your skin is copper colored, this e-be your homeland. OK, you can pay 1000 cedis.” He waved us in.
Inside, I saw several women dressed in the traditional Ghanaian dress waiting for an audience with the Queen Mother. We waited our turn and when we were asked to enter, I removed my shoes.
“Don’t greet anyone else before you greet her,” Mr. Appiah whispered to me before he raised the curtain to enter the doorway. “And, do exactly what I do. The queen is the lady whom I will greet.”
I wanted to say that I was sure I would know who she was, but I kept quiet.
We walked into a Western-style sitting room. In the middle was a simple chair on which the Queen Mother was seated. She was a small, thin woman wearing no jewelry; just a black cloth draped around her body and over her left shoulder. Her head was covered by a matching wrap, and she was barefoot. She sat straight, her eyes smiling and her face unwrinkled.
Mr. Appiah walked forward and shook the queen’s hand, telling her in Twe that he had brought the daughter of Tommy (as my dad was known here in his hometown) Nankani to see her. She smiled at me widely and took my hand, shaking it up and down for a long time. The queen spoke to me in Twe – she must have been thinking that I, my father’s daughter, should also be able to speak her language as well as he did. I do not.
She figured this out quickly enough and asked Mr. Appiah to tell me how much she loved my dad, how he was like a son to her, and how she wished that he could come visit her.
I was told to sit on the sofa to her right as she continued meeting the rest of our gang. When all the introductions were made, she turned her attention to me once again.
She was aware that my father was not well and asked about for him. I responded through my translator and we had a brief conversation that mainly centered around my father. She told me that she prayed that he would soon be well so that he could come visit her soon in the new home that her son, the newly enthroned Asantehene, was building for her.
Mr. Appiah remains standing as he addressed his queen, telling her what I had been doing in Ghana.
“She was in Bonwire yesterday,” he said. “She was visiting the women who weave kente because she is writing an article for an American magazine about them.”
The elders in the room smiled at me and nodded their heads in approval. The queen also looked at me intently as he spoke. I squirmed inside. There were too many eyes looking at me in this room.
Time to present the gift. Mr. Appiah ceremoniously removed the carton of whiskey from the black polythene bag as I pulled the envelope out of my bag. I rose from my seat and walked towards her. She accepted the present gracefully and shook my hand once again. An elder on the couch to her left said something and a dialogue ensued between them.
When I returned to my seat, I asked Maggie what they were saying. “Oh, they are telling her that there is money inside and that she should not open the envelope until after you leave,” she translated.
I looked at the Queen Mother and saw an amused look on her face. Of course, I thought, what queen would like to be told what to do? And what queen would think of opening an envelope immediately after it was presented?
After the excitement in the room had died down, I asked for permission to photograph the queen mother alone and she posed, sitting up straight and statuesque in her simple throne. Her smile spoke of many things seen and her eyes gazed at me affectionately. I knew that she wanted me to show this photograph to my father.
By looking into my lens, she was smiling at him, sending her love and regards. Then, I handed my camera to Maggie and moved to crouch on the floor next to her. She smiled at me widely, her white teeth doves in the night sky.
The flash shone a bright light on the room and the camera beeped twice.
“Your grandmother and you,” said Mr. Appiah. “Your father will be so happy.”
More on the politics of Africa from the Indian perspective.
Very interesting post!
Overall, the reputation of Indians in Africa has been positive, except where their presence has been used for political gains, as in 1969 in Ghana when the government passed a law requiring foreign investors and industry to re-invest at least 60 percent of their profit within Ghana.
that’s big exception though, no? wouldn’t you say “indians” have a “reputation” from south africa to kenya colored by the market dominant status of gujaratis?
Fascinating post! Thanks for sharing.
The scope & narrative tone transition of the post was a bit interesting.
Scope: India/Africa co-operation (broad) -> Uncle G’s opinions (narrower) -> your visit to Ghana (very personal)
Narrative tone: impersonal description of an event -> description of an informal interview -> first person description of a personal experience
I don’t know why I am pointing this out – I just found it to be mildly jarring. Sorry if I am being a dick.
It’s something that we do all the time though, we mix the large and the small.
While Sandhya is too modest to mention, her uncle used to be Africa head for the World Bank. So really, any comments by Gobind are at a pretty high level.
At first, I felt the same way after reading it. But then I rationalized that Sandhya was simply tying a macro-economic event to a personal one in order to highlight the deep and historic relations between Africa and India.
Interesting you should say that Razib. If I understand you correctly, you are saying that there is a sense of resentment among Black Africans against Indian-Africans (specifically Gujaratis). While I think there is always resentment among incumbents whenever Johnny-come-latelies usurp the dominant economic mantle, most of my interactions with Africans (admittedly only in the U.S) have been marked by tales of how much they miss their Indian friends (along with Indian food and Hindi movies) from back home.
Funny story from last week: The wife and I were in D.C for the Cherry Blossom festival. Hailed a cab for going to the Jefferson monument from the Smithsonian. The cab driver, a Ghanian, guessing we are from India, pulls out a DVD of the old Shammi Kapoor starrer, Dil Deke Dekho and starts playing it in his DVD player (yes, in his CAB). He even knew a few of Shammi’s lines from that movie. Surreal.
We were so dazed by the whole thing that it hit me long after we got off that he charged us $12 for that ride, about $6 too much.
Interesting you should say that Razib. If I understand you correctly, you are saying that there is a sense of resentment among Black Africans against Indian-Africans (specifically Gujaratis). While I think there is always resentment among incumbents whenever Johnny-come-latelies usurp the dominant economic mantle, most of my interactions with Africans (admittedly only in the U.S) have been marked by tales of how much they miss their Indian friends (along with Indian food and Hindi movies) from back home.
i was once reading an article about a black man who went to live in japan in the 1970s. he was talking about how he was walking down the street with his fro, and in the bustle of the city (i think he was in greater tokyo) he felt as if someone was trying to get his attention. he turned and across the way was a white guy gesticulating wildly, dodging his way across the thoroughfare. eventually he was face to face with the guy, who explained in a strong southern accent, “it’s nice to run into an american on the street!”
the thing was that the black guy was implying that changed circumstances had totally altered his own relationship to this southern white dude. it seems likely that in the 1970s in the USA there’s no way that a dude like this would chase down a black guy on the street to engage in some meet & greet. but as it was, in japan in the 1970s they weren’t white & black, but american (at least at that moment).
so when i say there might be indian (“asian”) vs. african hostility in some countries, i’m not talking about jews vs. germans in 1940. there’s plenty of amity i’m sure. but from what i gather there’s a non-trivial tension between blacks who resent the market dominant gujaratis. i said gujaratis specifically because in south africa it is muslim gujaratis who tend to be market dominant, while the vast majority of the south asian population is not (in kenya the gujaratis tend to be hindu i believe, in zambia they were muslim [thank you ‘world christian database’]).
in west africa, where the market dominant minorities are black african or perhaps lebanese i would assume that indians would not have the shadow of history hanging over them. so it would be different in different parts of sub-saharan africa.
i hope i made myself clear.
btw, nigeria has a large class of indian origin prostitutes. i’m not a scholar of south asian prostitutions; just was curious how two indian prostitutes were present at the death of a nigerian dictator.
Yes you have.
I wonder how the dynamics are in East Africa. A few years ago, I ran into this Somali guy who was the rental manager for an apartment complex in up in Waltham, MA. He gave me a break on the deposit only because I was Indian (or so he claimed).
Again, he had the whole Hindi movie thing going. He told me this story of how once got into trouble as a kid because of Amitabh Bachchan. Apaprently his mom had sent him to get groceries from the village store. On his way back from the store, he stopped by at his friend’s place watching some old Amitabh flick. Two hours and a full-stomach later, he returned home grocery-less to one angry mama.
Almost makes you think if India should close all its African embassies and consulates and replace them with movie theatres.
Virginia, I hope you were being sarcastic. My sarcasmo-meter just blew a fuse.
Almost makes you think if India should close all its African embassies and consulates and replace them with movie theatres.
well, i think one needs to be cautious about assuming that the glamor of movies rubs off on the indians-in-the-street. e.g., i was told by a malaysian acquaintance a party once that malays enjoy hindi-movies, where the indians are all “white,” but have little use for the local indians who are all “black.” but i think a lot of interpersonal dynamics are situational, not essential. that is, people in context X behave a lot different from context Y. it could be nigeria vs. kenya, or somalia vs. waltham.
Interesting post!!!
India’s technical expertise is what developing countries desperately need. Exchanges like these are taking the non-alignment movement into the 21st century, with a business and trade twist (where anti-colonial rhetoric dominated previously).
Any country that passes over what was previously perceived as ‘poor’ markets like Africa, does so at their own peril.
I’ve also heard of India making inroads into Latin America, specifically Apollo and Tata.
These little developments are perhaps the clearest ‘writings on the wall’ of the demise of western hegemony.
!Viva la revolucion!
Interesting post, but I found the following a tad hard to accept.
I read reports about riots against African Indians from time to time, is this manifestation of xenophobia in general, or are Indians targeted more than Chinese? (i.e. has there been any instances of ethnic cleansing of large Chinese communities in Africa comparable to Ugandan Indians)
BTW. “Very few Indians went into industry, and where they did, they did not last. Nigeria may be an exception,� Just a couple of days back, I heard on NPR that Nigeria was canceling throwing out Indian companies. Will try to get some links later when I get the time.
Dizzy,
As an Indian from Fiji, I am a believer that the Govt. of India’s active engagement with countries that have Indian populations is the best way to ensure the rights of these individuals.
I feel that in many of these places (Africa, Carib. Pacific) the xenophobia toward Indians will have to be checked by native populations if they want to engage India in business ties.
I also believe that these business relationships should be used as a ‘carrot’ to bring about better treatment for Indians in these countries (has not historically been the case).
We are all children of the same sad history, but the future is looking bright 🙂
There are very few Chinese in Africa even now, and those who live there are all recent arrivals. So there were no large Chinese communities in Africa back then to be the target of xenophobia and even now not really.
As an Indian from Fiji, I am a believer that the Govt. of India’s active engagement with countries that have Indian populations is the best way to ensure the rights of these individuals.
To this date the GOI has not had the cojones to ensure the rights of it’s citizens in the Middle East. So, I am not holding my breath for the GOI to engage countries with significant diasporic desis.
It’s not that Chinese people have not come under attack. They will increasingly be singled out for attack as their presence increases, since fear of economic competition is at the core of most xeonophobic hatred.
This article on the growing number of Chinese entrepreneurs in Africa might help people understand where things stand now.
True. Sadly though, one of the first outsiders to reach Africa, Zheng He, a Chinese Muslim eunuch general (quick, try saying that ten times!), is relatively unknown in the West. This guy pre-dated Columbus in reaching America and Magellan in circumnavigating the world.
http://www.npr.org/programs/musings/2002/nov/columbus.html
Here is an excerpt, if you want to skip reading the whole article:
“China in 1421 was the most refined, most splendid and most scientifically advanced civilization in the entire world. But following those extraordinary voyages, the heir to Zheng’s imperial masters turned his back on the sea and suspended Chinese naval expeditions abroad. China then turned inward with disastrous results for herself and the world.
The heart-broken Zheng was appointed garrison commander in Nanjing, and given the sad task of disbanding his sailors and soldiers. His high stature earned the old Muslim commander one last expedition in the winter of 1431. He visited Mecca and once again travelled to the states of Southeast Asia, India, the Persian Gulf, East Africa and the Red Sea. But he returned to die in relative obscurity.”
One wonders how world history (including the colonization of Africa by the West) would have turned out had China not turned insular on a dime.
Amaun,
I noted that what I was talking about has not been true historically.
It’s more important for us to build consensus… and it seems we are in agreement that Govt. of India does have a role to play in this arena.
India will only gain in self-confidence and assertiveness–things will change, if we fight for it.
It really pisses me off to read of the fate of Indians in Malaysia, Middle East, Carib, Pacific, Africa and hear these non-comittal statements from the Govt. of India. They place too much emphasis on ‘engagement’ with these govts. that treat Indians so harshly.
I’m not arguing for a more militaristic stance… just something more assertive.
Buzza,
Just have to call BS on Zheng circumnavigating the world or ever reaching America. Even Chinese scholars have refuted this. Farthest he got was eastern Africa before they pulled the plug on him.
Gazsi
16 · amaun said
And what have you contributed to the Indian gov’t as an expatriate to deserve such benefits? Do you pay taxes?
I don’t see how its the Indian Government’s responsibility to protect individuals who have left the country willingly especially in light of all of the problems that India faces internally.
Wow, what a disgustingly petty way to analyze this issue.
India’s tax compliance rate hovers in the single digits (less than 10% of those required to pay taxes, actually do). So, using your criteria, tax-cheats in India should not benefit from govt. policies either?
During the colonial era, Gandhi linked the fate of Indians suffering abroad under British colonial rule to the fate of those at home.
The connection may not be as strong today, but I still believe that the trampled rights of Indians in one corner of the globe, does in some way affect the rights of Indians elsewhere.
Fund-da-Mental – Mother Africa Feeding Sister India
jeety
I’m with Krish**** In the balance of payments crisis in the early 90s the expatriates helped out significantly. As India starts to compete globally, the presence of expatriates helps a lot in establishing beacheads. It also sends out a message that India is unwilling to defend its interests. So unwillingness of the Indian govt to help out NRIs is bad policy. It is also immoral.
I’m with jeety in that the indian governments primary responsibility is to ITS people. I am an American, most indians from Africa consider themselves to be Africans, most of my indo-fijians would identify more with being a fijian than with the indian part. I don’t see why the Indian government should waste its precious resource safeguarding indians everywhere when there are many many ppl within the indian border dying of starvation. They can always raise a voice.
there is a difference between indian expats in the middle east, and those of indian origin in terms of ancestry abroad. i don’t think it’s helpful to elide that difference.
I think that’s all that Krish**** is saying. Raise a voice, exert diplomatic pressure. No one’s saying it should be something allocated in the yearly budget. Everything is not a zero-sum game, people.
Speaking of taxes, Mauritius is a common location for Indian businessmen to keep their “accounts” away from scrutiny. Anyway. Lots of issues at play here — Inda wanting a seat on the UN Security Council (they’ll need African support), trying to counter-balance China’s influence (late again, guys), and whether India really has any street cred on social issues (see Burma policy). Let’s hope India doesn’t react to a situation such as Darfur the way China has.
One question: giving the Queen Mother some serious cash. While I appreciate the custom of giving family some $$ (and I understand that the QM here was like family), the idea of “tribute” puzzles me. What if this was the Queen of England? Does all royalty deserve tribute these days?
for a site that’s supposedly all about broadening understanding of the diaspora, why are there so many people who operate with such limited knowledge of these issues?
If India is to be the superpower that everyone on this board already thinks it is, then I hope you can all see why maintaining ties to people with a historical connection to India makes sense, for all sorts of reasons, including economic.
and if you still don’t think we’re Indians, then please can you pass laws in India to stop sending us your second rate exports. Hmmm, I wonder… do they pay taxes in India on the money they earn in Fiji?
I’m so tired of bringing up Mittal’s example. Most people don’t know that his first international acquisition was a de-nationalized steel mill in Trinidad… put him on the road to the top.
Reality is, we need each other. And like it or not, India has a responsibility toward other developing countries, not just those with Indians in them.
And if you’re going to say, “great, who’s going to pay for it”… then I have to wonder why you never ask the same for the money spent on the nuclear weapons program.
In my book, developing closer ties to the diaspora will take India a great deal further than the increase in ‘stature’ that militarization brings.
krish, you confuse nation-states with ethnicity. the united states forces defeated germany during world war ii commanded by a german american general. of course there will be cultural, historical and sentimental ties between south asian states and their diasporas, to mutual benefit (ergo, reaching out to “NRI”s). but india has bigger fish to fry in its regional geopolitics than intervening on behalf of a few tens of millions of people (who as it is are far wealthier than indians in india).
Thanks for the Social Science 101 Refresher and History Channel factoid.
I just think it’s interesting that with all the ignorance put on display above, it’s my ‘confusion’ that draws your comments.
Getting back to this article, do you guys think that India’s efforts to create closer ties with African countries is a waste of money?
Then you’d probably agree with this
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3257104.ece
“India deprives own poor in bid to be aid donor”
“A BRITISH plan to help India become a leading aid donor despite being home to a third of the world’s poor has been fiercely criticised by campaigners in both countries.”
“Last week British officials said that although India desperately needs aid to curb extreme poverty, it regards itself as a rising global power and wants to be seen as a donor rather than a recipient. Even though Britain gives more aid to India than any other country, it will in future be regarded as a “global partner†in poverty reduction, rather than a poor beneficiary of UK charity.”
“The plan has met with disbelief among the antipoverty campaigners in India, who say that the country should put its own house in order before taking on the problems of Africa.
They said the scale of India’s poverty was so great that all available resources and talent should be focused on helping its own people first. “India should not be distracted with helping other countries meet their goals when it has so far to go to meet its own,†said Ashok Agarwal, a lawyer and child poverty campaigner.
Professor Praveen Jha, a United Nations adviser, said that in eight of India’s 17 states, poverty was increasing. “In malnutrition, India’s record is worse than most of sub-Saharan Africa,†he said. “My request to Indian officials is: please address things in your own country first.â€
32 · Vyasa said
Whoever this professor dude is, he already lost my attention. India’s 17 states? It’s 28 states and 7 UTs, Mr. Professor.
what a curious story! thanks 🙂
That doesn’t really follow. Many of us might be ignorant, but at least we come with a desire to learn.
I daresay that some Fijian-Indians love the exports that you mention. Their pleasure, your poison.
Typical Indian bombast that is completely out of touch with reality. This is a fine example of “free speech” in India: a license to lie, exaggerate, boast outrageously. How completely moronic to claim that India-Africa trade can go from $ 9 billion to $ 500 billion in 5 years! Thats more than half of India’s total GDP. Manipulating figures isnt going to make India “play a far more prominent role in Africa’s economic development than China” anytime soon.
This summit was clearly an attempt to compete with China in Africa, which is miles ahead in every way. The Africa-China summit of 2006 was far more impressive with leaders from over 40 african countries as opposed to representatives from 14 countries in the Indian imitation. Africa-China trade today stands at around $ 73 billion. Thats close to double the India-China trade (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2706372.cms) which too is growing rapidly and which has now made China the largest trading partner of India, supplanting America.
The troll Vyasa is always good for a joke – sadly he doesn’t understand how much of a power-hungry stereotype of a communist party hack he sounds like – but its good that these people are getting exposed in public so that all people of the world can understand the aggressiveness of the chinese govt and the communist party.
What a shame the peoples army cannot yet go to delhi and mumbai and teach the indian savages a lesson.
Competing with China !! How dare they ! What a joke these stinky indians are – its bad enough they eat these disgusting messes – now they think they can compete with the true masters of asia! Soon we will make them kow-tow or at least nuke a few of their cities….
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I’m fijian of indian descent and i definitely dont want india tied to fiji or help the indians in fiji. They exploit their own people so why should they help us and plus most of us have lost contact with india the only relationship we know is that our ancestors came from there. India should mind their own business and fiji their own