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President Droupadi Murmu inpects a Guard of Honour as Angola President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço looks on, at Presidential Palace, Luanda, Angola. (PTI)
President Droupadi Murmu, during her maiden visit to Angola as the Indian head of state, has said that energy cooperation is the foundation of trade ties between the two countries.
“Our economic partnership is based on a vibrant energy partnership. We agreed to further diversify trade and investment relations in new areas, including technology, agriculture, health, defence, infrastructure, and people-to-people ties,” she said in a statement.
Murmu held bilateral talks with her Angolan counterpart João Lourenço in Luanda. Earlier, she was accorded a grand ceremonial welcome and Guard of Honour at the Presidential Palace in Luanda upon arrival. The two leaders held comprehensive talks aimed at deepening the multifaceted partnership between India and Angola.
During the discussions, President Murmu emphasised the importance of expanding cooperation across a wide range of sectors that reflect both nations’ shared priorities and complementarities. She highlighted potential collaboration in areas such as sharing of parliamentary best practices, agriculture-especially in seeds and fertilizers-oil exploration and refining, connectivity and transport infrastructure, rare earth minerals, and diamond processing.
The President underscored India’s specific expertise in several of these domains and conveyed India’s readiness to work closely with Angola in harnessing these opportunities for mutual growth and prosperity. She also placed a strong focus on capacity building and training, digital public infrastructure, defence cooperation, and reforms of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Lauding Angola’s commitment to sustainable development, President Murmu congratulated the country for joining two major global initiatives led by India — the Global Biofuels Alliance and the International Big Cat Alliance — underscoring Angola’s proactive role in addressing global environmental and biodiversity challenges. The two sides are scheduled to sign and exchange several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) to formalise cooperation in identified sectors.
India and Angola also signed three MoUs in the field of defence, culture and Ayurveda.
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Two MoUs were signed to enhance cooperation in the areas of fisheries, aquaculture, marine resources, and consular matters. It was also decided to take forward the Air Services Agreement.
Murmu is on a four-day state visit to Angola, the first by an Indian President. The President’s trip comes at a time when Angola is celebrating its 50th Independence Day anniversary (November 11), which she will attend, and both countries are observing 40 years of the establishment of their diplomatic ties in 2025. India is among the top three trading partners of Angola for some years, and currently it is second after China, sharing about 10% of Angola´s external trade, as per official statistics reported by the MEA.
Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More
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