PRESIDENT John Magufuli and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have signed five grand agreements, including one for providing a Line of Credit of 92 million US dollars (over 184 billion/-) in the water resources sector.
Mr Modi arrived in Dar es Salaam on
Saturday night from South Africa on the third leg of his four-nation
tour of Africa. He left for Kenya later yesterday. The agreements were
signed following delegationlevel talks between President John Magufuli
and his Indian counterpart.
According to the water agreement, India
will extend a line of credit of 92 million US dollars for the
rehabilitation and improvement of the water supply system in Zanzibar.
The two sides also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on water
resource management and development.
Another MoU that was signed at State
House yesterday seeks to establish a vocational training programme
between India and Zanzibar.
Under the MoU, India and Zanzibar will
cooperate in vocational training and creativity whereas India will put
up a special vocational centre in Pemba. The two leaders also signed a
bilateral agreement on exemption of visa requirement for holders of
diplomatic, official and service passports.
This means all government officials with
diplomatic and service passports will not be required to secure a visa
when travelling to either country.
The two countries also signed a joint
action plan between the Small Industries Development Organisation (SIDO)
and India’s National Small Industries Corporation (NCIC). It would
oversee cooperation in the field of micro, small and medium enterprises.
The agreement is part of the
implementation of the state visit by the then Indian Prime Minister, Mr
Manmohan Singh, in 2011. It will also put up incubators that will help
Tanzanians to reap benefits of technology from India as well as
preparing the country to become an industrial economy as part of the
implementation of the Second Five- Year Development Plan.
Another agreement is that of exchange of hydrographic survey maps.
The maps are a result of a survey that
was conducted by the Indian navy on behalf of the Indian government and
Tanzanian authorities.
Describing India as a trusted partner in
meeting Tanzania’s development priorities, Mr Modi said he and
President Magufuli have agreed to deepen the overall defence and
security partnership, especially in the maritime domain.
“Our in-depth discussions on regional
and global issues reflected our considerable convergence on issues of
common interest and concern,” Mr Modi added. On arrival at the State
House yesterday, Mr Modi decided to join his host in honing their skills
at traditional drum beating.
Earlier on, he received a 21-gun salute
from members of the uniformed forces before inspecting a guard of honour
mounted by members of the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF)
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