India & Ghana hold 3rd round of Foreign Office Consultations to review bilateral ties

The third round of Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between India and Ghana took place on Friday, July 22 to address and discuss approaches to further bolster bilateral relations. The nations talked about “political, economic, defence, cultural and capacity-building matters.” According to a press release from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the two sides decided to strengthen their collaboration in the multilateral fora after exchanging opinions on a number of important regional and global challenges. 

It is to mention that Indian investment in Ghana and bilateral trade have both been expanding steadily. In 2021–2022, India had $2.60 billion in bilateral trade. As per the release, Indian firms have made more than US$1.7 billion in investments in Ghana via 730 projects in a variety of industries, including construction, manufacturing, commerce, pharmaceuticals, agro-processing, services, tourism, etc. India is one of the biggest investors in Ghana. 

In addition to this, based on common historical links, ideals, and goals, India and Ghana have had cordial relations in the past. Both sides have been paying each other frequent visits, the release reads.

The third round of FOC which took place in New Delhi was headed by Sevala Naik Mude, Joint Secretary (C&WA) from the Indian side, while from the Ghanaian side, H.E. Mr. Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ghana was present. 

2nd India-Ghana FOC  

On July 2, the second round of India-Ghana Foreign Office Consultations took place, and both parties decided to take action to deepen and accelerate their engagement for the benefit of both parties, ANI reported. 

According to a statement from the MEA, the meeting was co-chaired by Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong, the deputy minister of foreign affairs for Ghana, and Rahul Chhabra, secretary (ER) for India. The co-chairs reviewed the joint commission meeting, the exchange of bilateral visits, bilateral trade and investment, capacity building, defence relations, security-related problems, people-to-people connections, pending MoUs, and regional and global topics. 

Ghana expressed gratitude for the visit of the Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan, who was there from January 6 to 7 to witness President Akufo-Addo take office for a second term. The Ghanaian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, was also met by Secretary (ER) during the visit. 

(Image: Twitter/ @MEAIndia)