India and Tanzania have elevated their bilateral relations to the level of strategic partnership, PM Narendra Modi announced at a joint press briefing with Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan in New Delhi on Monday.
“Today is a historic day in the relations between India and Tanzania. We are tying our age-old friendship into a Strategic Partnership,” stated Modi, adding that the two countries have laid a “foundation” for the future strategic partnership by identifying new initiatives.
Modi said both the countries were expanding to increase trade in local currencies as well as expand the usage of India’s domestic payments platform UPI in Tanzania in a bid to “realize the full potential of economies cooperation”.
“India has made significant contributions to Tanzania's skill development and capacity building through ICT centres, vocational training, defense training and Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarships,” the Indian PM stated.
Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
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Modi said that India has tried to “bring positive changes” to the lives of Tanzanians through cooperation in areas of water supply, agriculture, health and education.
Visit Aimed to Deepen Bilateral Cooperation: Tanzanian President
Hassan said that her visit to India was aimed at deepening bilateral cooperation in areas of trade and investments, defense and security as well as in the sphere of development.
She described her talks with Modi as “candid” and “amicable”, adding that there is passion and commitment to “solidify the relations to new heights”.
The President noted that India was the third-largest trading partner of Tanzania and the fifth largest foreign investor in the country, with bilateral trade volumes reaching $3.1 billion in 2022.
She also said that it was an “honour” that the first offshore campus of an IIT would be opening up in Zanzibar.
The two governments also signed six pacts in the spheres of digital transformation, cultural exchange, sports cooperation, sharing of White Shipping information and on establishing an industrial park in Tanzania.