India and Ghana to enhance security, defence cooperation

The joint statement issued by the two sides said that while India has been a victim of cross-border terrorism for a long time, Ghana is situated in an increasingly volatile region.

“International terrorism is a scourge and is a threat to the entire civilised world. The two leaders therefore agreed for greater security and defence cooperation and also called for greater exchanges between the Kofi Annan UN Peacekeeping Centre, Accra and the Centre for UN Peacekeeping, New Delhi,” the joint statement said as President Pranab Mukherjee wrapped up his two-day visit to the African country.

Ghana, situated in West Africa, is facing threats from ISIS and Boko Haram militants, who have established their presence in the neighbouring countries.

President Mukherjee discussed a number of issues with his counterpart John Mahama.

After wrapping up his two-day visit to Ghana, Mukherjee departed for the Ivory Coast for the second leg of his three-nation tour, seen as “outreach for Africa”.

During his visit, Mukherjee made a number of announcements to help Ghana in capacity building and human resource development, including further grant assistance of $1 million to the India-Ghana Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT, which has been set up with Indian assistance of $2.86 million.

India also announced an increase in ITEC slots from 250 to 300 and ICCR full-time scholarships from 20 to 40, each year, it said. The Ghana government thanked President Mukherjee for India’s contribution to its capacity building and human resource development.

“The Government of Ghana conveyed deep appreciation towards India’s concessional developmental assistance by way of grants and Lines of Credit. In particular, they placed on record their sincere gratitude for India’s support for major socio-economic projects such as Komenda Sugar Plant and Elmina Fish Processing Plant,” it said.