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| Mr Rajinder Bhagat (left) Indian High Commissioner to Ghana Addressing a section of Indian residents at the 66th anniversary celebrations in Accra |
The India Community in Ghana has marked its country’s 66th Independence Day with a call on Indians to strive to make Ghana more prosperous in the economic and social sectors.
The High Commissioner of India in Accra Mr Rajinder Bhagat, made the call when he spoke to the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of the commemoration of the 66th independence anniversary of India in Accra.
Mr Bhagat disclosed that in order to demonstrate India’s commitment to support Ghana’s economic prosperity, the Indian government would establish a fertiliser plant worth $1.2 billion in Ghana.
Upon completion, 40 per cent of the products would be sold locally to boost agriculture while the remaining 60 per cent would be exported to India.
He said India’s commitment to Ghana’s development was evident in its provision of assistance in setting up projects through provision of lines of credit and grants to Ghana.
He said India had so far offered Ghana lines of credit totalling $265 million for various projects including the construction of the Flagstaff House, establishment of Foreign Policy Training Institute, rural electrification, supply of agricultural and irrigation equipment, among other projects.
Besides these, Mr Bhagat said, India continued to offer scholarships to Ghanaian students in diverse sectors, including electrification, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), agriculture, trade and in the steel industry to strengthen Ghana’s growth.
He disclosed that about 80 Ghanaian students had been awarded fully paid educational scholarships for the 2012/2013 academic year to study in India.
Addressing the ceremony earlier, Mr Bhagat called on members of the India Community in Ghana to continue with the struggle for a total freedom from hunger, disease and poverty in India.
That struggle, he said, should be focused on the youth to offer them the opportunity to good education in order to put the country in the status of first world.
“The young thirst for knowledge that would lift their skills, and for the opportunity that would put India on the fast track to the first world. They have the character; they need the chance.”
Mr Bhagat said despite India’s successes in the economic mainstream, there were lots of gaps that needed to be bridged, including the extension of the green revolution in the eastern part of the country; creation of high quality infrastructure, and expansion of education and health services to every citizen.
He appealed to the Indian government to ensure a violence-free country and move away from issues that threatened the stability of the country.
“We need peace for a new economic surge that eliminates the competitive causes of violence,” he stressed.
“We must learn to live in harmony with nature and since it cannot be consistent, we must be able to conserve the bounty during the many seasons of plenty so that we would not be bereft during the occasional bout of scarcity,” he advised.
There are about 1,000 Indians in Ghana some of whom have lived in the country for more than 50 years.
The day is celebrated every August 15 to commemorate India's independence from British rule and its birth as a sovereign nation on August 15, 1947.
India achieved independence following the Indian independence movement noted for largely peaceful non-violent resistance and civil disobedience led by the Indian National Congress.
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