Angolan President on India Visit: Prospects for New Horizons in India-Africa Relations

Angola's President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenço is currently on a state visit to India. He met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday. The visit is being seen as an important milestone in expanding strategic and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.

External Affairs Minister Jaishankar wrote in X after meeting President Lourenço, "The President's warm greetings and guidance are very valuable in taking the India-Angola partnership forward. The Prime Minister's meeting with him will show a new path in our bilateral relations as well as in India-Africa cooperation."

This morning, Lourenço was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Modi were present at his reception. The Angolan leader was welcomed with a guard of honour and a 21-gun salute. India is seeing this as a special gesture of respect to its 'Global South' partner.

As per state honours, President Lourenço then went to Rajghat and laid a wreath at the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi and signed the visitors' book. Through this, he paid tribute to Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence.upon his arrival in Delhi on Friday evening, h১e was received at the airport by Union Minister of State Kirti Vardhan Singh. The Angolan President is accompanied by a high-level delegation on the visit.

Several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) are expected to be signed with India during this visit. It is learnt that cooperation in the fields of traditional medicine, agriculture, culture and education will be given priority.

The visit is all the more significant as Angola is holding the chairmanship of the African Union in 2025. As a result, the development of their relations with India is not limited to the bilateral level - this visit is also seen as a major step in strengthening India's strategic position in the entire African continent.

Diplomatic relations between India and Angola began in 1985. This year marks the 40th anniversary of that relationship. Over this long period, cooperation between the two countries has gradually expanded in the fields of trade, energy, health and technology.

According to analysts, President Lourenço's visit is not only historic, but can also emerge as an ideal model of South-South cooperation, where the two developing countries are advancing relations on the basis of equality and mutual interest.