African diplomats seek answers from Centre over attacks

The reaction is a setback to efforts by Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister, to strengthen ties with the rapidly growing African economies that New Delhi sees as a market for Indian goods and a source of natural resources, including oil and minerals.

In a statement on behalf of the African diplomatic corps, Alem Tsehange Woldemariam, the Eritrean ambassador, demanded strong measures to ensure the safety and security of African students. The diplomats also called for the launch of public awareness programmes to combat “problems of racism and Afro-phobia in India”. The statement described a “pervading climate of fear and insecurity” among African students in Delhi. It expressed dismay that past attacks on and incidents of harassment of Africans were unresolved, “without diligent prosecution and conviction of the perpetrators”.

New Delhi promised to ensure that “African students continue to find a welcome home in India” but argued that “all criminal acts should not be seen as racially-motivated”. Authorities said two men had been arrested in connection with the murder of Matsuda Kitada Oliver in a middle class suburb of New Delhi. Sushma Swaraj, the foreign minister, tweeted that the suspects were “local goons” and would be tried in a “fast track” court.

Oliver was beaten to death by several men after a dispute over an auto-rickshaw that he had just hailed but which the suspects also wanted. The deadly assault comes just three months after a mob set about four Tanzanians, including a 21-year-old woman, in Bangalore, India’s high-tech capital.

The attack is a blow to Modi’s efforts to forge what he has described as a partnership for prosperity between India and Africa, two continents whose historic trade and cultural ties were neglected in the decades after colonial rule.