Common Futures

Director’s Note
sunjoy joshi
India’s relationship with continental Africa is centuries old. Bound by common cultural ties and shared
historical experiences, Africa and India share in their common potential as drivers of future global growth,
as well as in the common disadvantages compounded by their being amongst the last entrants to join
the global growth trajectory. Given their shared colonial past, it was but natural that independent India’s first
outreach to the world was to Africa, as a leader of the Bandung Conference in 1955.
However, in spite of the vibrancy of long enduring people to people contacts, the full potential between both
regions failed to acquire substance as Government to Government relationships rarely transcended political
tokenism.
It is in this context that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to deepen India – Africa cooperation early
on in his tenure becomes significant. The third India – Africa Forum Summit to be held in New Delhi during
October 2015 is the largest of its kind, and in the spirit of this summit, the Observer Research Foundation
(ORF) remains committed to contributing to a rapidly evolving partnership as both regions seek to leverage
the promise held about by the new emerging interconnected world.
ORF’s Africa – India Growth and Development Forum therefore build upon three strands : (i) sharing
development experiences in sectors known to be equally critical for both regions, such as agriculture and food
security, energy, and digital inclusion; (ii) accelerating growth through rejuvenated and special Afro-Asian
model of international development cooperation through Lines of Credit, grants, and support for institution
building; (iii) discovering ways of integrating and engaging with the new emerging commitments under the
SDGs, environmental concerns and the new development finance architecture.
To give shape to these, in the lead up to the India – Africa Summit this October, ORF has been engaging
with African themes and delegates in a series of events to shape the agenda and conversations between the two
regions. 25 participants from Africa participated in two key ORF events in the month of October. The Asian
Forum on Global Governance 2015 included a panel on “Sustainable Development: Global Goals, National