Delhi Declaration 2015 – India-Africa Forum Summit

1. We, the Heads of State and Government and Heads of Delegation representing the continent of Africa, the African Union (AU) and its Institutions, and the Prime Minister of the Republic of India, met in New Delhi, India on 29 October 2015 for the Third India-Africa Forum Summit, under the theme: ‘Partners in Progress: Towards a Dynamic and Transformative Development Agenda’;

2. We recall the Declarations adopted during our First Summit in New Delhi (8-9 April 2008) and our Second Summit held in Addis Ababa (24-25 May 2011) and the Framework of Enhanced Cooperation and the associated plan agreed upon thereafter as providing a concrete foundation for the consolidation of our strategic partnership;

3. We note that Indians and Africans together comprise nearly one-third of humanity today. However, they continue to be excluded from appropriate representation in the institutions of global governance that were designed for an era since long past. This Summit takes place in the 70th anniversary year of the United Nations. It is also the first since the 50 years of establishment of the OAU/AU as a symbol of pan-Africanism and African Renaissance and the adoption of the 50^th Anniversary Solemn Declaration and shortly following the landmark adoption of the Agenda 2063 by the African Union. This is also the first since the landmark 50th anniversary of the Group of 77 last year. We demand urgent collective action to put in place more democratic global governance structures that will assist in more equitable and just international security and development frameworks;

4. We also note that 2015 has been a landmark year as we, along with other partners, have defined a set of Sustainable Development Goals as part of the broader 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the UN General Assembly, with a special emphasis on Financing for Development, on which the 3rd International Conference was hosted in Addis Ababa. The international community will gather in Paris in November 2015, to conclude an ambitious agreement to combat Climate Change. This will be closely followed by the 10th Ministerial Meeting of the WTO in Nairobi;

5. We look forward to finalizing within the forthcoming global climate change negotiations an ambitious and comprehensive climate change agreement based on the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibility. The challenge of global warming can only be addressed adequately through technological solutions and the financial resources to manage the transition. The developing countries, while undertaking ambitious actions on their own, need to be assisted to mitigate climate change and to adapt and adjust to its impact;

6. We underscore the special concerns and priorities of the African countries relating to economic and development needs and that protection against vulnerabilities require collective action by the international community. The SDGs build on and strengthen our commitment to the MDGs, focus on economic growth, industrialization, infrastructure and employment as the fundamental drivers of sustainable development and contain an ambitious set of means of implementation to assist developing countries, a package that is being complemented by the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. The need for a supportive international economic environment, enhanced investment flows, a supportive multilateral trade regime and a strengthened framework for technology collaborations, has never been greater to foster and sustain economic growth, eradicate poverty and promote sustainable development. The reform of the international financial system to make it more democratic and more responsive to the needs of the developing countries must be pursued in a sustained manner;

7. We further recognize that the peoples of Africa and India have known each other and traded across the Indian Ocean for millennia. Our shared common experience of a colonial past and the solidarity of our resistance to it, have cemented our common yearning for a more just and fair international political and economic order in an increasingly globalized world. Africa and India represent rapidly growing economies with demographic advantages and are building on their longstanding development partnership including through the active participation of the Indian Diaspora across the African Continent ;

8. We acknowledge that our partnership is grounded in the core recognition that our people are our fundamental resources and that capable and skilled human resources are the foundation for building prosperity for all;

9. We reiterate our commitment to further enhance Africa-India relations in the political, economic and socio-cultural domains based on the principles of mutuality, complementarity and true sense of solidarity as well as the promotion of people to people interactions;

10. We recognize that cooperation in providing widespread access to quality education though scholarships for students and the reach of tele-education utilizing modern communication technology provides great strength to our peoples and institutions. Equally important is skills development to empower workers and enable the development of various economic sectors. This is another area of our ongoing cooperation through extensive programmes of training, capacity building, setting up of training centers and other institutions;

11. We are committed to promoting gender equality and empowerment of women more so since 2015 is designated by the African Union as the Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development. Harnessing talents and abilities of women will greatly help make poverty eradication irreversible, protect and promote human rights and build more nonviolent and environmentally sustainable societies;

12. We confirm our respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States as well as for noninterference in their internal affairs;

13. We reaffirm our respect for human rights as well as the principles of equality and mutual benefit;

14. We believe that the United Nations should function in a transparent, efficient and effective manner and that the composition of the central organs must reflect contemporary realities in order to work towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and tackle the challenges of a world shrunk by the modern forces of globalization, facing threats ranging from a vastly transformed security environment to climate change;

15. We reaffirm our strong commitment for a comprehensive Reform of the United Nations system, including its Security Council, to make it more regionally representative, democratic, accountable and effective;

16. We recognize that the longstanding and multifaceted Africa-India development partnership is based on equality, friendship and solidarity, represents South-South cooperation in all its dimensions, which encompass human resource development through scholarships, training, capacity building; financial assistance through grants and soft credit to implement various public goods projects, including for education, healthcare and infrastructure; trade preferences; technology collaborations; humanitarian, financial and in-kind assistance in emergency situations; maritime cooperation; deployment of peacekeeping troops who also conduct a range of development and humanitarian tasks; collective negotiations in multilateral fora for common causes and concerns, among others;

17. We acknowledge that terrorism and violent extremism have emerged as primary threats to nations and our societies and condemn them in all their forms and manifestations. The menace of non-state actors including armed groups has acquired a new dimension as they expanded geographically, acquired resources and new instruments to spread extremist ideology and draw recruits. Tackling this challenge requires global strategy and cooperation. We emphasize that no cause or grievance can justify acts of terror and resolve to maintain zero tolerance against terrorism. We call on all countries to ensure that their territories are not used for cross-border terrorist activities. We strongly condemn direct or indirect financial assistance given to terrorist groups or individual members thereof by States or their machinery, to pursue such activities;

18. We emphasize our strong obligation to fight drugs and human trafficking and other forms of transnational organized crimes such as hostage taking, piracy, and illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons and reiterate our resolve and commitment to work together in this regard;

19. We recognize that the growing trade, investment and technology linkages provide a solid foundation to our engagement since our businesses, through such linkages, provide a strong dimension to our partnership. In this regard, we welcome the signing of the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, by the leaders of 26 African countries belonging to the three Regional Economic Communities –Southern African Development Community (SADC), East African Community (EAC) and Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA). India commends the African Union on the launching of the negotiation process for the establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) aimed at integrating Africa’s markets in line with the objectives and principles enunciated in the Abuja Treaty, establishing the African Economic Community (AEC) and its resolve to support the work of the Continental Free Trade Area-Negotiating Forum (CFTA-NF) towards concluding the negotiations by 2017. India looks forward to working closely together with these emerging economic architectures for the expansion of trade and investment linkages;

20. We further recognize the huge potential for expansion of trade and investment between Africa and India, and Africa appreciates the commitment of India to continue to contribute significantly to building African Institutions and capacities through supporting industrialization and enhancing beneficiation and value addition processing of raw materials in Africa;

21. We note that Africa and India, besides having large landmasses, have very long coastlines and a large number of island territories. We recognize the importance of the oceans and seas to the livelihoods of our peoples and that maritime security is a pre-requisite for the development of the Blue/ Ocean economy. India would work to support Africa, as appropriate, in the implementation of the AU 2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime (AIM) Strategy in accordance with International Maritime Law;

22. We take into account that new international security environment and the evolving nature of conflicts are posing new challenges on the effectiveness of the traditional peacekeeping missions;

23. We appreciate the connection between Africa’s Agenda 2063 with its First Ten Year Implementation Plan and the focused priorities being pursued by the Government of India which should help towards working to build peace and prosperity for our peoples through poverty eradication, provision of healthcare, education, employment, access to modern energy services, infrastructure, connectivity between resources and markets;

24. We recognize that healthy communities across gender and age are our moral responsibility and essential for people to contribute effectively to economic development. Providing universal access to primary healthcare and battling diseases are our common urgent priorities. In this regard, the access to quality and affordable medicines and treatment is a crucial area of our cooperation;

25. We note that the space technologies are instrumental in enabling long term development plans as well as managing short term emergencies; and that digital information and communication technologies are rapidly transforming our world. Connectivity and access to these technologies that permeate all sectors of economy including education, healthcare, manufacturing, trading, financial services; and society is greatly empowering for peoples;

26. We acknowledge that the Duty Free Tariff Preference scheme offered by India would play a significant role in increasing trade between Africa and India and underline the need to create a conducive environment for the extension of the scheme to all African countries;

27. We agree that improving the productivity of agriculture, with a sustainable and judicious use of inputs is vital to ensure food and nutritional security which represents a significant challenge and opportunity for all of us. In this regard, we appreciate Africa’s continental projects such as the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP);

28. We support the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and underscore the importance of enhancing cooperation in the Blue/Ocean Economy due to its strategic importance to the two parties;

29. We commit to address bottlenecks that have slowed down the progress of the Africa-India Partnership and agree to put in place the necessary financing mechanism to ensure the full implementation of the Action Plans of the India-Africa Forum Summits;

30. We appreciate the need to further deepen our friendship and enhance our partnership focusing on more concrete and implementable areas of cooperation that would impact positively on the lives of the peoples of Africa and India.

31. We agree to cooperate in the following fields:

i) Economic

· Continue to work together in promoting investment exchanges and encourage establishment of direct trade relations through opening of new markets and raising the level of trade relations between the two sides in order to contribute to sustainable growth and economic development;

· Support long term capital flows to Africa to stimulate investment, especially in Infrastructure and in this regard, support the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), particularly with regard to increasing financial flows to the program. Call equally upon all members of the international community to remove and cease imposing unilaterally motivated economic coercive measures jeopardizing the movement of funds, trade exchanges and socio-economic development;

· Call upon the international community to expedite the process of enabling African Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) to benefit from all initiatives aiming at alleviating the burden of debts for HIPCs, within the agreed concepts and principles of sustainable development;

· Enhance collaboration in the use and development of appropriate technologies as well as in emerging and high technology areas since technology provides solutions to many of our common challenges;

· Cooperate and coordinate in the field of women empowerment, enhancing women's economic, social and legal status, providing women with job opportunities and better chances to participate in the economic, social and political spheres and continue joint efforts aimed at eradicating discrimination against women;

ii) Trade and Industry

· Work closely together within the framework of the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) which brought together SADC, EAC and COMESA for the expansion of trade and investment linkages and extend the framework to other Regional Economic Communities;

· Support the establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) aimed at integrating Africa’s markets in line with the objectives and principles enunciated in the Abuja Treaty, establishing the African Economic Community (AEC) and its resolve to support the work of the Continental Free Trade Area-Negotiating Forum (CFTA-NF) towards concluding the negotiations by 2017;

· Fast track the implementation of the Duty Free Tariff Preference scheme offered by India since this would play a significant role in increasing trade between Africa and India;

· Work towards creating conducive environment for trade facilitation in accordance with the WTO Bali Trade Facilitation Agreement;

· Support establishment of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Medium and Small Industries (MSIs) in order to promote employment creation and income generation for people of both sides;

· Promote Public Private Partnership (PPP) by encouraging Indian businesses to set up skills development units in African industrial zones with the aim to train African engineers, technicians, managers and workers as well as other experts in areas such as food security and solar energy;

iii) Agriculture

· Pursue joint cooperation in the agricultural and food security fields and support the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) to increase productivity, conserve land and environment as well as ensure food and nutritional security;

· Further increase our cooperation in improving farming techniques through appropriate and affordable technology, appropriate use of irrigation, improving crop varieties and other measures;

· Promote investment in agribusinesses and food processing industries to generate employment and greater revenue;

iv) Energy

· Intensify our ongoing cooperation in developing renewable energy generation including solar, wind, hydro, geo-thermal and bio-mass along with building power transmission systems;

v) Blue/ Ocean Economy

· Promote cooperation in the Blue/Ocean economy, towards the sustainable development of marine resources; place special emphasis on closer collaboration in developing sustainable fisheries, combating illegal and unregulated fishing, managing the marine resources, exploring non-marine resources, conducting hydrography surveys, promoting eco-tourism, developing renewable energy, disaster risk reduction through modern early warning tools, pollution control and other coastal and ocean studies;

vi) Infrastructure

· Intensify ongoing cooperation in training, capacity building, consultancy and project implementation through concessional credit in infrastructure areas, including water supply management, maritime connectivity, road and railway construction and upgrading;

vii) Education and Skills Development

· Provide and facilitate the access and enrollment of African students and academicians to India’s premier institutions of higher learning in an effort to boost Africa’s human resource capacity including in areas such as engineering, medical technology and agriculture;

· Collaborate in capacity building and the use of remote sensing technologies for natural resource mapping, including agriculture, water, forest cover, mineral and marine resources, disaster management and disaster risk reduction, including early warning of natural disasters;

· Foster cooperation among scientific and research centers in Africa and India to make use of ICT and modern technologies and geographic information systems;

· Cooperate in making technology and digital networks become effective tools in our fight against poverty, and ensure it benefits the needy, improves delivery of services, catalyzes development and increases citizen participation in governance, as well as promotes financial inclusion and empowerment through access to banks, credit and social insurance against diseases and accidents;

· Promote joint coordination and cooperation to improve the future of the youth through programs for capacity building and knowledge exchange among youths on the two sides and strengthen their capacities to meet the challenges of globalization and its repercussions;

· Continue to provide the necessary support for the establishment and operationalization of the institutions agreed by the two sides;

viii) Health

· Enhance joint cooperation in health and pharmaceutical development as well as telemedicine and traditional medicine, jointly combat diseases and pandemics and increase the efficiency of health institutes through comprehensive training programs and coordination at international level to harness modern scientific technologies for medicine and treatment;

· Cooperate in the training of doctors and healthcare personnel including through tele-medicine, medical missions, development and utilization of modern technology, enhanced access to generic medicines, promotion of the use of traditional medicines and regulatory procedures as well as combating the challenges posed by pandemics;

· Cooperate in ensuring access to affordable medicines and foster innovation to address public health needs of developing countries by making full use of the flexibilities available under the WTO TRIPS Agreement;

ix) Peace and Security

· Continue collaboration in the fields of Peace and Security including conflict prevention, resolution, management and peace building through exchange of expertise and training programs; strengthening regional and continental early warning capacities and mechanisms; enhancing the role of women in peace keeping and propagating the culture of peace;

· Strengthen our cooperation in enhancing capacity to contribute to peacekeeping and peace-building efforts including support to the African Standby Force (ASF), and through the recent announcement by India to conduct a new training course at the Centre for UN Peacekeeping (CUNPK) in New Delhi; and by other Peacekeeping Training Centers in Africa dedicated for Training of Trainers from upcoming Troop Contributing Countries from Africa. Strengthen our cooperation for greater involvement of the Troop Contributing Countries in decision-making process;

· Promote the strengthening of the UN Counter-Terrorism mechanisms; call upon all States to ensure strict compliance with the UN Security Council sanctions regime on terrorism; and call on all countries to ensure that their territories are not used for cross-border terrorist activities. We urge the international community to cooperate with urgency to adopt the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the 70^th Session of the UNGA;

· Promote peace and support post-conflict states to enhance their development priorities;

· Enhance cooperation and coordination between Africa and India to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations; confront transnational crime to further support international efforts in this regard;

· Increase our cooperation in securing sea lines of communication, preventing transnational crimes of piracy, trafficking of drugs, arms and humans through surveillance;

x) Multilateral Fora

· Demand urgent collective action to put in place a more representative global governance architecture, reflective of the contemporary geo-political realities, that will assist in more equitable and just international security and development frameworks;

· India notes the common African position and the aspirations of the African countries to get their rightful place in an expanded UN Security Council as new permanent members with full rights as contained in the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration. Africa takes note of India’s position and its aspirations to become a permanent member with full rights in an expanded UN Security Council. We emphasize the need for an early implementation of the UNGA Decision 69/560, so as to make a decisive push for achieving concrete outcomes on the United Nations’ Security Council reform agenda;

· Recall and reaffirm the principles behind the fight against colonialism, xenophobia, Apartheid and violation of human rights in which India and Africa fought together;

· Support a negotiated solution recognizing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, resulting in a sovereign, independent State of Palestine living side by side at peace with Israel as endorsed in the Quartet Roadmap, relevant UN and AU Resolutions and in line with the provisions of international law;

· Intensify coordination of positions at the United Nations, G-77 and other global political, economic and commercial fora in order to jointly tackle issues of common interest in accordance with the spirit of the Africa-India Partnership;

· Urge the developed countries to undertake ambitious mitigation commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and honor their commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to provide financial resources as well as transfer of technology and capacity building support to developing countries to enable them to effectively address the impacts of climate change;

· Enhance cooperation and coordination in finalizing an ambitious and comprehensive climate change agreement during the forthcoming COP 21 negotiations which will be held in Paris, France;

· Welcome that COP 22 on Climate Change will be held on African soil in Marrakesh, Morocco in 2016 and agree to work together to ensure that the concerns of developing countries are met;

· Commit to promote good governance to bring development to our peoples. We will further our cooperation in this regard through efficient use of information and communication technologies. We also look forward to deepening our cooperation and sharing of experiences in establishing fair and transparent electoral processes;

· Promote and enhance cultural interaction amongst peoples and media exchange programmes as well as interaction between intellectuals in Africa and India, and encourage private sector endeavours in cultural investments to better inform the peoples of two sides about the realities of their societies;

32. Monitoring Mechanism

We, the Heads of State and Government and Heads of Delegation from African countries and the Prime Minister of the Republic of India agree to adopt the 2015 India-Africa Framework for Strategic Cooperation and agree on the establishment of a regular formal monitoring mechanism to review the implementation of the 2015 India-Africa Framework for Strategic Cooperation and its Plan of Action within the agreed timeframe;

33. The next India-Africa Forum Summit will be held in the year 2020;

34. We, the Heads of State and Government and Heads of Delegation from African countries thank their Excellencies the President and Prime Minister of the Republic of India, the Government and people of India for hosting this Summit and the warm reception and hospitality extended to us. The Prime Minister of India, on behalf of the Government and people of India takes this opportunity to thank the Heads of State and Government and Heads of Delegation from Africa and the African Union for their participation in the Third India Africa Forum Summit and for their most useful suggestions to further intensify the India-Africa partnership.