Transcript of Special briefing by MEA on the State visit of President of Angola to India (May 03, 2025)

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Good afternoon, friends. I welcome you to this special briefing by Secretary (ER), Shri Dammu Ravi on the ongoing State Visit of Angola. We also have with us Shri Sevala Naik Mude, Additional Secretary, who looks after Angola and other countries in Africa. As also our Ambassador to Angola Dr. Vidhu Nair. With that I invite Secretary sir to make his opening remarks after which we will take questions from the audience. Sir over to you.

Shri Dammu Ravi, Secretary (ER): Thank you Randhir and good afternoon, friends. Let me briefly cover the program and also the important elements of the visit. As you know that the President of Angola, Mr. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço is on a State Visit, which started yesterday, and it will close tomorrow. Today he was accorded a ceremonial welcome in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan by Honorable Rashtrapati Ji.

Thereafter, there was a call on by Honorable External Affairs Minister on the President of Angola, and there were delegation level talks held by Honorable Prime Minister at Hyderabad House, during which the various aspects of the bilateral relations have been covered. And today, later in the evening, there will be a banquet by Honorable Rashtrapati ji.

Let me also put the importance of the visit. Now, this is the first time that a VVIP visit on both sides is taking place after 38 years. And this is the first visit of President Lourenço to India, since he assumed office in 2017.

And it also marks two important events. One is the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Angola. And the second is, it marks the 50th anniversary of the independence of Angola this year. As you all know, Angola is holding the chairship of the African Union, which is a very important area for us too in the context of India-Africa partnership. So, we are seeking their support in deepening our relationship with Africa.

And the delegation level talks between the two leaders covered a wide gamut of relationship, making an assessment of the existing relationship, as well as the futuristic scenario in terms of new areas of cooperation.

During the press briefing, there was a very strong message, and also during the delegation level talks. President Lourenço condemned the heinous cowardly act … terrorist act in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir. And there was condemnation of it, expressed condolences to the bereaved families and solidarity with India in tackling terrorism in all its forms, including the cross-border terrorism.

Now let me touch on the substantive part of the relationship. As you know, the bilateral trade between India and Angola is $4.2 billion. Much of it is in the favor of Angola, about $3.5 billion. But 90% of the trade is in oil and gas. We import a lot from Angola, both oil and LNG. It is the second largest supplier of oil and gas from Africa after Nigeria. India exports about $700 million worth of items, but varied items, including pharma, medicines, vaccines, automobile components, engineering products, plastics and refined oil.

During the visit … a lot of coverage on the energy security aspect from India's point of view. As you know, Angola has discovered new oil fields … and where they sought India's support, particularly Indian companies, to help them in the refinery processing, to set up refinery units there, and also exploration of onshore and offshore oil fields.

Defense is another area of cooperation that attracted a lot of attention. During this visit, Honorable Prime Minister has offered $200 million worth of lines of credit, defense line of credit, in Indian rupees. They will be sourcing defense equipment from India. Already they are in touch with the private companies and also public sector companies for various items to be sourced from India.

And the important aspect is there is a commonality. They have a large number of Soviet equipment, defense equipment, which needs to be serviced, overhauled and do the maintenance. So, in the days to come, both sides will be engaging … expert level interactions as to how to take forward this particular cooperation.

Honorable Prime Minister has also offered the Angolan experts to be trained in India, in the defense area, both under ITEC and also a very specialized training program for Angolan defense forces. Agriculture is an area of great interest to Angola. President Lourenço requested Honorable Prime Minister to give assistance in creating a situation that Angola could become fully secured, fully self-sufficient in food production.

There again, various elements … Angola, as you know, after the civil war, after it won independence, it suffered civil war for 27 years. A lot of these activities have been, you know, taken a backseat in terms of the infrastructure and agriculture growth, but now they are coming out of it. It is a much more stable today and there is a lot of potential for cooperation, both in agriculture and infrastructure creation.

In the area of agriculture, they will be needing India's entrepreneurship to be able to grow food crops in that part of the world and agriculture equipment, tractors, seeds and various technology that will be needed for agriculture food security. In the area of infrastructure, there is a great need for road networks and railway networks. They already have certain networks, but they need further greater expansion of it, support from India.

RITES is already talking to the Angolan companies. There is a possibility to introduce Indian diesel locomotives and also expand the railway network interior, north-south and east-west and leading into the areas of their minerals, which are very important for them in terms of logistics. We … again, this will be an area of interest for Indian companies. They will be engaging in working with Angolan authorities in taking forward the specifics of it.

In the health area, there was a lot of discussion. Angolan President Lourenço specifically asked for India's support in healthcare, doctors and paramedical forces. There is a need in great numbers. They are expanding the healthcare sector with the creation of new hospitals in that country. And Honorable Prime Minister mentioned about not only the possibility of supplying vaccines and medicines and pharma products in Africa, but also to be able to set up Janaushadhi units in that country. We will be exploring that opportunity.

The possibility of traditional medicine, Ayurveda to be introduced in Angola, where there is a lot of interest too.

The new areas of cooperation which were discussed by the two leaders is actually Space. As you know, Angola already has a satellite mission control centre, which is currently assisted by the Russians and the French, but India has low-cost satellite launch technologies and Honorable Prime Minister offered this to Angola. And we will have to see how we can expand this particular area of great interest to both sides. And there is a lot of potential there.

The Digital Public Infrastructure is another area that was discussed and again there seems to be great promise there and for Angola admittedly it is a new area. But Honorable Prime Minister explained the benefits of it and how it can enhance the governance part, the ease of living part and it was very well received by Honorable President Lourenço and we will see how our exports can take this forward.

In terms of the development cooperation, India has been traditionally assisting most of the African countries, but in the case of Angola too, we have given modestly lines of credit, grants; and technical capacity programs have been extended to Angola too. And there is a renewed interest during this visit to expand the scope of this cooperation.

As part of the deliverables, let me mention to you, these are very much in the knowledge of the media, three memoranda of understanding were concluded today in the presence of the two leaders. One is pertaining to cooperation agriculture, the second is cultural cooperation, and the third is in the area of traditional medicine and Ayurveda.

During the visit, again Angola expressed interest to join International Solar Alliance and to that effect, they have delivered the framework agreement which will in course of time formally induct them as a member of the International Solar Alliance.

In the context of the African Union, as you know, Angola is currently the chairship, holding of the African Union and we are very keen to hold the next edition of the India-Africa Forum Summit, which is the fourth edition. We have to explore mutually convenient dates for both sides, but President Lourenço assured us that during his chairship, he will be able to work with other leaders to ensure that the summit takes place, and we will have to again look at convenient dates.

He also mentioned about the rise of India and how it can play in the context of not just Angola but also Africa … as to India and Africa … to playing a stronger role, a dynamic role and a facilitating role in the Global South. And Africa is the core of the Global South and that is where he sees a great interest. And taking that forward further, the rise of India, Honorable President Lourenço also mentioned about India playing a greater role in the world context and he sees a great role internationally, particularly in the UN system, the reform of the UN. Both have collective interest to ensure that the reform takes place effectively and reflects the contemporary realities. And in that context he mentioned about India's role in the UN Security Council as well.

Lastly, let me also mention that there are about 8,000 Indians … diaspora, strong diaspora in Angola, quite extensively spread out in various activities, both professionals, traders and retail network, businesses, and successfully contributing to the economy of Angola.

So, I pause here friends and if there are any questions, I will be happy to take. Or my colleagues could also support me in answering those questions.

Thank you very much.

Huma Siddiqui, StratNews Global:Good afternoon. I'm Huma Siddiqui from StratNews Global. I have two questions. You talked about the food and energy security. So, especially in the agri-sector, was there a discussion related to leasing of land for Indian farmers, or is it just about giving the machinery and seeds? And my second question is related to Defense and Space. So, have they identified what exactly would they be wanting to buy from India, and would they like to tie up with ISRO for any future space program?

Keshav Padmanabhan, ThePrint:Thank you, Sir. Keshav Padmanabhan from ThePrint. My question is regarding the 200 million dollar line of credit for defense. I just want to understand when you say they are looking to source. What are the kinds of partnerships that they're looking to source when it comes to defense from India? Have they identified particular parts of the defense partnership that they want to engage and expand in? And secondly, was there any discussions on, you know, helping them when it comes to other forms of security partnerships, whether conversations on sort of counter-terrorism or cyber security? You know, is the defense partnership more than just sourcing? That's what I wanted to understand, if there were conversations on it. Thank you.

Sidhant Sibal, WION: Sir, Sidhant from WION. On the UNSC reforms, if you can perhaps elaborate more on what kind of conversations were there, because this is a process that has been stuck for a long time. They extended support to the non-permanent membership as well, for which we are bidding very soon in this decade, and also India's support for African membership at the UNSC.

Rishikesh: Sir, Rishikesh from [Indiscernible]. So, Africa is one region where India sees significant defense export potential. So, has India offered any specific platforms for Angola … or military platforms?

Shri Dammu Ravi, Secretary (ER):Well, anyway, I think some are overlapping questions, so I'll try to give a broad spin on that.

So, one is Huma's question on food and agriculture. Now see, I think the specifics of it would need to be sorted out at the expert level. But I think, you know, we have to understand that Angola today is just 40 … is about 40% of India's landmass, which is quite significant. For a population of 35 million, there's a huge landmass. And I also mentioned that, you know, during the civil war there's been a lot of mining. So, a lot of it has been demined. So, there's a huge area of tracts of land … arable lands are available. We have to study the land lease. And I see there is a general trend in Africa that they're offering up to 90 years, 99 years of land lease, and that is where … is a great potential and opportunity for Indian entrepreneurs to go there to be able to cultivate and grow crops. And this is not new. It's already happening. In many countries it's happening already. And specificity of it we'll have to see. Because we have to also understand the soil conditions, which is conducive to what kind of crops, millets. Of course, honorable External Affairs Minister mentioned today in the conversation with his counterpart whether there's a scope for millets. But, yes, there are multiple opportunities there. But I think today we have to see in the context of securing … making African countries and the continent self-sufficient in agriculture. Food security is a very important part, particularly in the context of the geopolitical tensions that have disrupted the food supply chains in the world. So, this is still work in progress. We will get to those details later on.

And particularly on the defense cooperation, Keshav, and also your question is touching on that. What are the specifics of it? The Ambassador might have more details, because even before the visit there was some discussion with the public sector unit, and as well as the private sector unit for sourcing from India … transport equipment, ammunitions in particular. But what they are, what are those details, I would not know at this point of time. Honorable President in particular mentioned that they have Russian aircraft called the Sukhoi-30 … when they need India's help in both the overhaul, spares, maintenance, and servicing part of it. So, this is again ongoing. We will get into details in course of time.

On the UNSC reforms, again, we have to understand, you know, no African leader can come out and say exactly what they feel about UN Security Council reform. But UN reform in general is a collective interest, because it doesn't reflect the contemporary realities of the 21st century. But on the specificities of the UN Security Council, we have to understand that Africa has a position called the Ezulwini Consensus, where the African candidates, candidature for the UNSC will be decided by the group. But we are appreciative of the fact that President Lourenço had mentioned about India playing a greater role in the UN systems, and also on the UN Security Council. That has come out very clearly today.

Military cooperation that going beyond defence … I think one is in the capacity building, but in terms of the cyber security, again, we haven't gone into those details. Perhaps Angola is not so intensely into the cyber security aspects of it, you know, but they are sympathetic to … in terms of terrorism, the disruption that is happening, and they are quite aware of the fact that, you know, the civil war has affected them, and they disrupted their societies as well. So, there is a scope for military cooperation, but we'll have to see how far and to what dimension at what level it can take place.

Maybe, I'll request our Ambassador, if he has anything to add on the specific question.

Shri Vidhu P. Nair, Ambassador of India to Angola: Well, there was a discussion during the meeting between the Honorable Prime Minister and the President on the possible areas of capacity building and training, and the Honorable Prime Minister offered specific courses on counter-terrorism, cyber security, et cetera. But as Secretary mentioned, we need to work out the further details of it. As far as India is concerned, I think we will be more willing to encompass as many areas in this domain, depending on our priorities, as well as Africa's priorities, and therefore this is an evolving situation.

Suhasini Haidar, The Hindu:Secretary, this is Suhasini Haidar from the Hindu. You had mentioned that President Lourenço said … condemned the Pahalgam attack and also has offered support to India for its actions against terrorism and cross-border terrorism. Did he make any statement as the chair of the African union as well because so far, we hadn't had any statement from the AU per se on this attack. And if I could ask maybe Additional Secretary could … is there a response to the EU, the U.K., the U.S. asking for India and Pakistan to work together to de-escalate tensions at present.

Sachin: Sir mera naam Sachin Godhwaliya hain. Mera sawal yeh hain ki infrastructure ke upar jab apki baat ho rahi thi khas taur par railway aur road ke bareme, toh kya Angola me kis tarah se humari sahayeta maangi hain aur railway me kya modernization, track wagairah aur uska bhi pura infrastructure hain, ya kewal rolling stock ko le kar ke unhone baat kari thi?

[Approximate Translation: Question in Hindi] Sir, my name is Sachin Godhwaliya. My question is that when the discussion was happening on infrastructure, especially about railways and roads, then in what way has Angola asked for our assistance, and in railways, is it about modernization, tracks, etc., and does that include the full infrastructure or did they talk only about rolling stock?

Siddhant Mishra, CNN-News18:Hi sir, I'm Siddhant from CNN-News 18. Sir my question is, how does India-Angola relations stand out vis-a-vis Africa? And also, if you could shed more details about the cooperation in Space. Thank you.

Sunita Nagpal, ET Now:Hi sir, I am Sunita from ET Now. You mentioned about DPI being an area of cooperation. I just want to get an understanding on what was exactly arrived at so far as the understanding between two sides is concerned. And what is Angola expecting? Are there any timelines of DPI perhaps being rolled out [inaudible] ?

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson:Okay. Siddhant, can you repeat your question?

Siddhant Mishra, CNN-News18:Sir, India's relations with Angola vis-a-vis Africa.

Srinjoy Chowdhury, Times Now: Sir, you spoke a lot about defense cooperation between the two countries. Did the meeting between Rajnath Singh and the Defense Minister of Angola happen at all?

Neeraj Kumar Dubey, Prabhasakshi:Namaskar sir, main Neeraj Dubey, Prabhasakshi se. Sir, Angola ka jo videshi culture hai, usme lagbhag chalis pratishat Chinese hain aur wahan par kuch Chinese banks ke saath unke jo payment se jo samjhauta hote, woh radd bhi huye hain. Unko dikkat bhi hai. To aapne jo sahayata ki hai Angola ki, kya unhi prayason mein ek aur kadi usko mana jaye jinki tahat sangharshrat deshon ko China mein apni kacchi jaal mein phansa raha hai aur Bharat unki madad karta hai? Doosra, aaj Pradhan Mantri ji ne jo Angola ko disaster infra se ya Biofuel wala jo hamara platform hai, ek aur platform se judne ka jo aahvan kiya hai, us par Angola ki kya pratikriya dikhi?

[Approximate Translation: Question in Hindi] Greetings sir, I am Neeraj Dubey from Prabhasakshi. Sir, in Angola's foreign culture, about forty percent is Chinese, and some of the agreements related to payments with Chinese banks there have also been cancelled. They are facing difficulties. So, the assistance you have provided to Angola-can it be considered another step in the efforts where China is trapping struggling countries in its debt trap, and India is helping them? Secondly, today, Prime Minister has invited Angola to join the disaster resilient infrastructure or Biofuel platform - what has been Angola's response to this?

Shri Dammu Ravi, Secretary (ER): Well, a few questions I'll try and mix up with others. There's common threads here.

Suhasini's question on the cross-border terrorism, we haven't yet received the AU statement as such on the recent attack in J&K, but today's clear condemnation by Angola in its capacity also as the chair of the AU is itself very significant in my view. It also covers both bilateral as well as the African Union. And that's coming out very clearly in that context. But I think the other part of it you could answer it a little later.

In terms of the infrastructure, you know, we have to understand, and as I said, Angola has been behind the curve in terms of infrastructure because of its own past, the civil war and all that. So, there is a lot of scope for road network to be built, and also in the railway network. Now, specifically on the railway network, they have some track, but that's a single track. But if you have to improve your logistics and also reach out to your critical minerals and mining areas, then you need to have a lot more capacity and a lot more modernization taking place. And that's where India is coming in. RITES is in talks, they're just not talking about rolling stock, but they're also looking at the possibility of expanding the network and also creating modernization there.

India-Africa cooperation in the context of Angola. See, we have to see the relationship of India-Africa in the overall context of the Global South as well. You know, our trade with Africa is about $100 billion annually. Investments are about $80 billion. But we could do more. You know, we need to engage more intimately with them. And that is the whole exercise today. Our company should be encouraged to go and invest and take part in value addition activity locally, infrastructure creation, PPP projects. There's a whole lot of opportunity for both sides, particularly for Indian entrepreneurs.

Now, India-Africa summit, it's been there for a long time. It's pending. 2015 was the last time when we had the third edition. But now, because of the COVID scheduling issues, we could not hold the fourth summit. But now is a good opportunity. What will happen is, you know, we'll take stock of the things. In the overall context of Africa, this summit will give us an opportunity to understand, you know, where we can bring in India's low-cost solutions, particularly in the DPI space. And India is well positioned to assist because of the development trajectories, aspirations, and challenges of both in India and Africa. And the DPI could be very well … a good platform for Africa to accelerate also its development.

So today, Prime Minister mentioned and explained the utility value and various aspects of it, one of which is the payment. He also mentioned about the ease of payments, the ease of the governance, the ease of delivery mechanisms. And I think in particular, he mentioned about simple things like, you know, how fishermen can actually use this technology to track the fish movement, the stocks. He mentioned it. So, there are various applications to it. I think many of the African countries are still new to this. But I think there is this need for awareness building. And from there onwards, helping them to build the infrastructure, both software and hardware and the capacity building. There's a lot of work ahead for us; I believe so. But already many of our Indian companies are there. And they are constantly talking to the companies … our banks are in, talking to them. The National Payment, NPCI experts have also visited many countries. So, this is work in progress.

Now, in terms of the Defense Ministers meeting, I'll ask my Additional Secretary to explain this. Now, China's role, of course, China has a very strong presence, not just in Angola, but across Africa. But we have to also understand our strengths. There are certain areas where India can do very well. There are certain areas perhaps China is already doing well, but not necessarily in competition. India's skills, India's low-cost solutions have its own merit, its own value, and deeply appreciated by the African countries and the leadership. And we would like to build on our strengths in deepening India's role in the Global South, particularly in the African continent.

So, I'd like to request my colleague Sevala Naik, to come on that … particularly Defense Ministers.

Shri Sevala Naik Mude, Additional Secretary:Thank you, sir. Well, let me share with you the background. Well, the Honorable President of Angola arrived yesterday morning, 9.30 [Indiscernible]. But most of the ministers … they arrived much ahead of him. But the timing schedule with the defence minister, our defence minister meeting was 12:30. By then, I think there was a call by the President of Angola to have a cabinet meeting. So, the scheduling issue came up and then somehow they had to postpone. And subsequently, they didn't find any suitable time for a meeting with the Defence Minister. So, it didn't take place. So, therefore, they had to be canceled. But, however, they had met in February during the Aero Show in Bangalore and their delegation again came down to Delhi and then their Minister of State in the President's Office also had gone and met the Minister of State of Defense. So, there have been interactions … it's not something that is missing … each other. So, therefore … because the scheduling time couldn't take place. Thank you.

Shri Dammu Ravi, Secretary (ER): My due apologies on that. But let me explain to you that this is a new area of interest for Angola in particular. They have raised this. President Lourenço asked the Prime Minister for help. So, what we are going to do is get into specifics with the experts. I think ISRO and their side will get into talk. But I think there is interest for also the low-cost satellite being launched by India and the data sharing, those things. I think that will form part of the cooperation in the space area. But we'll have to, again, go into details eventually in due course of time when experts meet. Thank you very much.

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Suhasini, responding to your question, as you are aware, the global community in overwhelming numbers has come out strongly condemning the terror attack on Indian soil. They have also conveyed a very strong sense of solidarity and support for India … that they stand with the people of India in this hour. So, we are very appreciative of their solidarity, of their strong condemnation of this terror attack.

With that, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your presence. Thank you.

New Delhi
May 03, 2025