By IANS,
New Delhi : Stretching the canvas of their global partnership, India and the US have joined hands to forge a triangular arrangement with Liberia, Malawi and Kenya to promote food security in these African countries.
Collaborating on sharing innovations, specially relating to agriculture and education, figured in the delegation-level talks between External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton here Tuesday.
“The two sides intend to promote food security in Africa through a triangular cooperation programme with Liberia, Malawi, and Kenya,” said a joint statement on the India-US strategic partnership.
Officials of the two sides also identified some capacity building programmes that includes the participation of Africans in Indian universities and research and technical institutes.
The triangular arrangement with Kenya, Malawi and Liberia, countries prone to drought and food deficit, is the first concrete initiative to emerge from a separate dialogue on Africa that the two sides unveiled during the visit of US President Barack Obama to India in November.
In the Nov 8 joint statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama, the two sides had agreed to “adapt shared innovations and technologies and use their expertise in capacity building to extend food security to interested countries, including in Africa, in consultation with host governments”.
Since then officials of the two sides dealing with Africa have held two rounds of talks to firm up some joint collaborative programmes in the continent.
Besides food security, the two sides have also been discussing the development of non-conventional sources of energy such as solar and wind energy and sharing their experience in e-learning with African countries.