Ghana cherishes its friendship with India – Veep
Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has said Ghana would continue to cherish its friendship with India as the existing bilateral relations keeps expanding.
He said prior to Ghana’s independence, India provided tremendous support in various sectors, and that both countries shared similar principles within the non-alignment paradigm and non-interference in the affairs of other countries.
Vice President Amissah-Arthur made the statement when the outgoing India High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Shri Jeeva Sagar paid a farewell call on him at his office at the Flagstaff House.
Mr Sagar, who assumed duty in 2013 as the India High Commissioner to Ghana, came to bid farewell at the end of his three year duty-tour of the country.
Vice President Amissah-Arthur commended Mr Sagar for deepening the levels of economic relations between the two countries.
He said trade between Ghana and India has expanded enormously as well as Indian investments in agriculture, sugar among others.
Mr Sagar, on his part, stressed the need for Ghana and India to maintain the existing cordial relations for the mutual benefit of their people.
He said the amount of goodwill between the peoples of the two nations despite the geographical distance is something that they would continue to cherish.
He said the way the Ghanaian people have accepted the Indian diaspora speaks for itself as it portrays the existing relations.
Mr Sagar said the recent state visit by the Indian President to Ghana highlights the deepening ties between the two nations, adding that this has fostered several partnerships between Ghanaian and Indian businesses.
He said during the visit of the Indian President, the two governments agreed to increase bilateral trade from $3billion to $5billion.
Mr Sagar was also grateful to Vice President Amissah-Arthur for advising various Indian Trade Missions to Ghana to sit with their Ghanaian counterparts to identify areas where they can complement each other and enhance the trade.
He said recent Indian investments made in Ghana is over $1billion and is in diverse sectors of the economy.
He said people to people contact and capacity building contribution has also been expanding citing for example the intention of the Indian government to support the Kofi Annan ICT Centre with additional $1million grant.
Source: GNA