Ethiopia and India have established diplomatic relations in 1948. The countries are preparing to celebrate the 75th anniversary of our diplomatic relations. Throughout the times the two countries have expanded their ties in many sectors investment, trade, education and health, among others. Especially the cooperation in the health and education sectors has grown up to a good level that the two countries can speak proudly of.
The health sector is also showing significant growth as many Indian investors are increasing their involvement in the pharmaceuticals and hospitals here in Ethiopia. In addition to his comments on current Situation here in Ethiopia, Indian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Robert Shetkintong, has had a brief stay with The Ethiopian Herald recently. This is an excerpt from the interview.
BY ZEKARIAS WOLDEMARIAM
Thank you very much for your usual cooperation. Could you tell us about the 75th anniversary of Ethiopia and India diplomatic relations?
India achieved its independence in 1947. Ethiopia was one of the African countries that first established diplomatic relations with India in 1948. So for the whole next year, we are going to celebrate 75 years of our diplomatic relations. We are already celebrating. We are going to hold many events; we are going to bring cultural groups. There will be tree plantation drives. Last week there was with Arba Minch University. We are also showing Indian films in schools so that they can enjoy what is Indian film. A cultural troupe fully funded by the embassy has left for India and they will be performing for three weeks. We have decided to celebrate this everywhere in Ethiopia, the cultural events, films and sports to all cities and regions in Ethiopia.
And this time Ethiopia has assigned a new deputy ambassador to India. How do you see the prospect of the assigned ambassador?
The team at the Ethiopian embassy in New Delhi is excellent. They are undertaking so many activities. I am sure that the Deputy Ambassador will work hard to contribute to the growing relations between our two countries.
In addition to the other sectors, the two countries are bolstering ties in the health and education sector. What do you think is the significance of boosting cooperation in these sectors, especially between the countries that are populous in the world?
Education is an important component of our bilateral relations. Since the imperial times, we had thousands of Indian teachers teaching in high schools. Many of them were from the state of Kerala. They were teaching even in the remote areas of the country. So you have people who remembered that the Indian teacher has taught them either science or mathematics. After that Ethiopian students form one of the largest groups of students from Africa in India, because we also have scholarship provided by Indian Ministry of External Affairs and we also have Study in India scholarship provided by the Indian Ministry of Education.
There are scholarship provided by the Ethiopian government, but there are also students who are self-financing their own. For example I met one gentleman, Amir Abdulahi Idriss; he was telling me that 15 years ago when he studied in India there were 2000 Ethiopian students only in Pune city. We also have now about 1200 Indian professors and teachers in public universities in Ethiopia. So education is very important component in our relations. The Indian government also gives short term training programs. It is called Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC). Every year we used to send about 400 Ethiopian nationals for short term programs but because of the COVID 19 these training programs have not been held physically.
But once the COVID 19 pandemic improves, we will start. We will continue the physical training. They are fully funded by the Government of India. So education is important because countries like Ethiopia and India, we need to improve the human capacity of our people.
In the health sector there are two or three components. Our bilateral trade basket is 1.3 billion USD. So out of that, the exports from India to Ethiopia are huge. In that trade basket, the pharma sector occupies 20 to 30 percent of our bilateral trade. The standards of Indian medicines are good and the price is affordable. Indian pharma companies are trying to expand their exports to Ethiopia and also to Africa. They want to export their medicine and medical devices. That is in the short term. In the long term they are trying to establish their factories here in Ethiopia and in Africa. Cadilla pharmaceutical is a joint venture in Gelan. More than 10 years ago this was the first JV. Then last year we had another joint venture – Kilitch Estro near Sendafa, on the way to Debreberhan. This is another joint venture in the pharmaceutical sector.
On 9 March 2022, we inaugurated the first standalone Indian investment – Glocare Pharmaceuticals at Kilinto Industrial Park. Just next to Glocare, we have another factory called Africure, a joint venture between Indian and Ethiopian investors. Hopefully they will inaugurate the factory by August or September. I am also aware that there are one or two Indian factories that have been allotted plots at Kilinto industrial park. With regard to the Pharmaceutical sector, things are happening. As Ethiopia wants to be a manufacturing hub in the next three to four years, we are actually in the right direction.
There are two up to three thousand Ethiopians who travel to India every year for medical treatment to India. This is
because hospital standards are excellent and provide treatment at affordable prices. Now for the first time, we will soon be inaugurating an Indian specialty hospital at Summit in Addis Ababa – Apex Indian Surgical Center. In terms of health sector, what has happened is good. There is more scope and opportunity to expand.
After years of unrest and political upheaval, Ethiopia is now preparing to undertake a national dialogue and reconciliation soon. Is there anything that your country can cooperate with Ethiopia in this regard?
We can only learn from each other. Ethiopia can learn from India, India can learn from Ethiopia. Countries should learn from each other because you are also a country of more than 80 ethnic groups, more than 80 languages. India being a larger country of 1.3 billion people has many official languages and thousand dialects. All religions in the world have presence in
India. In India there are Hindus, and also it is the second largest Muslim country, as well as about 25 million Christians. Then we have Parsis. What I would say is that both countries have diversity. There is also similarity – leaders and people in both countries strive for unity in diversity. The National Dialogue Commission is an effort to effectively address this issue of celebrating diversity, having unity as a country. It is in the right direction and I am sure that very positive things for the country will come out of this process.
For almost a year Ethiopia passed through a difficult time due to the conflict in the north. When the war expanded to the center, many people were scared and tried to leave home. But many Indians refused to count on the dreadful reports of the foreign media and stayed in the country. How do you explain the emotional attachment of Indians here in Ethiopia?
Majority of the Indian people who have lived here are business men, investors. A typical character of an Indian investor is he will quietly come, set up his factory and is never going to leave this country because he has invested his life saving into that factory. Therefore, it is unlikely that he will run away. He has made Ethiopia his home. As the Ambassador of India to Ethiopia, I am grateful to the Ethiopian people for really graciously welcoming my fellow citizens. About 50-60 families, mostly from Gujarat, have made Ethiopia their home for the last 5-6 generations. Again I would like to reiterate that Indian investors who have invested here would never leave this country.
Thank you very much for your time!
You are welcome!
The Ethiopian Herald March 26/2022
