President Ram Nath Kovind will embark on a three-nation visit to Africa on April 7, his third visit abroad since assuming the presidency in July last year and all of them being to the African continent.
During the six-day visit, Kovind will visit Equatorial Guinea, Swaziland and Zambia, Neena Malhotra, joint secretary (east and southern Africa), said.
On the first leg of his visit, he will visit Equatorial Guinea on April 7, the first by a head of the state/government from India.
On April 8, he will address the Parliament of Equatorial Guinea and hold talks with his counterpart Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
"Both the presidents are expected to review the entire gamut of relations," Malhotra said.
Kovind will also address a gathering of the Indian community in the country.
Equatorial Guinea joined as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in January 2018 for a two-year period.
"The president will reiterate India's offer to work together and will also seek support for early adoption of Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT), proposed by India," Malhotra added.
The central African country is also the fourth largest supplier of natural gas to India. The total trade between India and Equatorial Guinea in 2016-17 was USD 809 million.
"A decision to open a Resident Indian Mission in Malabo (the capital of Equatorial Guinea) will also be announced during the visit," she added.
Three agreements are expected to be signed during President Kovind's visit to the country.
Equatorial Guinea President Mbasogo visited India for the first time in October 2015 to attend the Third India-Africa Summit. Last month, he also attended the International Solar Alliance Founding Conference in New Delhi.
Kovind will depart for Swaziland on April 9.
This, too, wiil be the first visit by a head of state/government from India to Swaziland. Swazi King Mswati III had attended the 2015 India-Africa Forum Summit.
Besides holding talks with King Mswati III, President Kovind will also address the Swazi Parliament.
On the final leg of his visit, Kovind will arrive in Zambia on April 10.
Kovind's visit to Zambia will be a first by a head of the state/government from India in 29 years.
He will hold talks with his Zambian counterpart Edgar Lungu, and meet Kenneth Kaunda, the first president of Zambia.
Besides interacting with the Indian community, Kovind will address a business event in Zambia jointly, with Lungu.
The bilateral trade between India and Zambia reached USD 1 billion in 2016-17 and India imports copper from the African country. The Indian investment in Zambia is nearly USD 5 billion, mostly in the mining sector.
India has given lines of credit to Zambia in the areas of power, agriculture and health. New Delhi has also trained nearly 40 per cent of the Zambian armed forces.
Almost the entire Air Force of Zambia has been trained by India, Malhotra said.
After assuming the presidency on July 25 last year, Kovind has visited five countries - all of them in the African continent.
India has intensified its cooperation with the continent witnessing an increasing in influence of China.
The India-Africa Forum Summit in 2015 was attended by heads of state/government of several African countries.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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