By Manasse Nyirenda
Lilongwe, March 30, Mana: Indian high commissioner to Malawi, Subbia Gorpalakrishnan has said his government is committed to enhancing bilateral relations for the social and economic development of the two countries.
Gorpalakrishnan made the remarks when he presented his letter of credence to Malawi’s State President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera at Mtunthama State Lodge in Lilongwe on Tuesday.
He said although the two countries already enjoy good bilateral relations there was room for improvement.
“We discussed to enhance bilateral relations between India and Malawi. It does not mean that we do not have good relations. Our relations go back to decades.
“Both countries have got the same political history. Having come from the same history both countries are duty bound to corporate with each other. So, we discussed means to strengthen our relationship.
“And also I assured his Excellency about our prime minister’s, (Nalendra Modi) vision on Africa and commitment to continue supporting Malawi,s economic and social development,” he said.
India is among Malawi’s top trading partners and source of Malawi’s imports which include textile yarns, fabrics, transport equipment and pharmaceuticals among others. Malawi mainly exports agricultural produce such as chickpeas and pigeon peas.
There are also a number of Indian investments in Malawi such as Bharti Airtel, TATA and Tech Mahindra.
The latest high level visit has been that of the vice president of India, Venkaiah Naidu from 4th November to 5th November, 2018 and during the visit a line of credit worth $215million, gifting of 10 ambulances for emergency response and gifting of 100,000 of mathematics, science and physics were announced among others.
Malawi and India established diplomatic relations in 1964, but its resident mission wound up in 1993 and reopened in 2012 following a visit to Malawi by the then former Indian Vice President, Hamid Ansari in January 2010 and a subsequent visit by former Malawi President, Bingu wa Mutharika to India later the same year.
