While there have been many commentaries on the subject of China’s presence in Africa,⁽¹⁾ for the time being India’s role there has not aroused the same interest. However, the great friendship gatherings between China and Africa (such as the Sino-African summit in Beijing in November 2006) should not be allowed to obscure New Delhi’s diplomatic activity over the last several years. There have been many bilateral meetings, for instance, such as the visit of the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to South Africa last October. Ever since India’s independence in 1947 it has maintained close relations with the East African countries, such as Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania; nowadays its influence extends to the entire continent. India’s African policy is built round two policy objectives: to ensure energy independence and to reinforce India’s status as a major political power. However, in Africa it is colliding with China’s growing influence.

African Ambitions

Even before independence, India demonstrated a real interest in Africa by participating actively in the fight against apartheid in South Africa. In 1946 India had persuaded the UN General Assembly to approve Resolution 44 condemning the segregation of Hindus in South Africa.⁽²⁾ Thenceforward for the next 40 years India was to become one of the most consistent adversaries of this system of racial discrimination. At the Non-Aligned summit in Harare in 1986, it was Rajiv Ghandi who was behind the AFRICA programme (Action for Resisting Invasion, Colonialism and Apartheid) presented there.

Many African leaders, such as Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, Julius Nyerere in Tanzania or Kenneth Kaunda in Zambia, were inspired in their independence struggles by Mahatma Ghandi’s principles of non-violence. The Indian Economic and Technical Agreement of 1964 aimed to offer assistance to numerous Third World countries.⁽³⁾ However, after the 1960s India’s influence in Africa weakened. The Non-Aligned Movement was unable to reconcile its divisions.⁽⁴⁾ Furthermore (unlike China), India refused to deliver arms to African revolutionary movements. An example of this is India’s passivity during the long decolonialisation struggle in Angola, where China was supporting Jonas Savimbi, the leader of UNITA (the National Union for Total Independence of Angola).