Nigeria, India To Cooperate on Renewable Energy

Nigeria has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India on Cooperation on Renewable Energy, an agreement which focus on development of new and renewable energy technologies like Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Biomass/ Bio-energy, Small Hydro and Capacity building.

The MOU was signed by the Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar and his Indian counterpart, Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar who was on official visit to Nigeria.

The signing ceremony was one of the activities undertaken as part of the sixth Nigeria – India Joint Commission Meeting held on Monday and hosted by the Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and had the Indian Minister of External Affairs in attendance.

The Commission reviewed the decisions of the 5th Joint Commission and also the entire scope of bilateral relations between India and Nigeria. They emphasized the significance of the Sixth Session as the continuation of the era of meaningful and expanding economic interaction between the two countries.

The bilateral meeting held at the  Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja covered a wide range of sectors from Political, Culture, Aviation, Trade and Investment, Developmental Partnership, Defence and Security Cooperation to Consular Matters and Regional issues and Multilateral Cooperation

In a parley with the press, after signing the MoU, Tuggar said that Jaishanka had earlier visited Lagos where he held productive meetings with the India-Nigeria Business Forum and also addressed the Nigerian Institute Of International Affairs (NIIA) in Lagos on India and the Global South.

Tuggar said: “We had very fruitful deliberations at the 6th joint commission between Nigeria and India, several issues were discussed as regards different sectors ranging from  economy, trade, consular issues, culture and aviation. I have to say that the meeting was very fruitful and rich.

“You know that Nigeria and India have a lot in common, we are two largest democracies on the continent of Africa and Asia, we are the most populous and we have a strong bond and we have been friends for a long time, our relationship will continue to grow stronger” he further added.

Responding to the press at the parley, Jaishankar said, “India and Nigeria share a long-standing and friendly relationship which is rooted in history. We are the largest democracies of the world and are the leaders in our continents. In recent years, this has been renewed by contacts between our leaderships”.

India is one of the top economic partners of Nigeria, with investments estimated at about 27 billion US Dollars and an annual trade turnover estimated at between 13-15 Billion US Dollars. The next meeting (7th) of the Nigeria-India Joint Commission will be held in India.

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

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