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India and Africa's Partnership pp 11–39Cite as

India–Africa Relations: Historical Goodwill and a Vision for the Future

Part of the India Studies in Business and Economics book series (ISBE)

Abstract

India and Africa shared a multidimensional relationship since ancient times. The geographical proximity and an easily navigable Indian Ocean brought the people of the two regions nearer to each other. During colonial times, soon after the conquest of Africa and for restructuring African economy, the free and voluntary relations of the past gave way to colonial needs and preferences. The relations between India and sovereign states of Africa were formally established when both sides gained independence. While the earlier pattern of their relationship was moulded in the colonial frame, it was considered by the leadership of newly independent states as highly inadequate to meet their developmental aspirations as reflected in their quest for South–South Cooperation. The new relationship is being developed on partnership model. As Indian connection is old, multidimensional and with strong historic ties, India enjoys tremendous goodwill in the continent. This chapter examines the historical relations between India and African countries as a resource for accelerating developmental cooperation under globalization . It will try to examine the strength and uniqueness of the historical foundation for the current Indo–African partnership in the twenty-first century.

Keywords

  • Indian Ocean
  • African Country
  • Indian Ocean Region
  • African Leader
  • Liberation Struggle

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Indentured labour system came into existence in 1834 first in British colonies, after abolition of Slavery (1833).

  2. 2.

    The Abyssinia Crisis was a crisis during the interwar period originating in the ‘Walwal incident.’ This incident resulted from the ongoing conflict between the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Ethiopia, (then commonly known as “Abyssinia” in Europe). Its effects were to undermine the credibility of the League of Nations and to encourage Fascist Italy to ally itself with Nazi Germany.

  3. 3.

    India imposed trade embargo against Zanzibar because of its inhuman treatment to Indian settlers.

  4. 4.

    Wafdist means the Member of Wadf Party. Wadf was a nationalist liberal political party in Egypt. It was founded in 1919 and was instrumental in the development of the 1923s Constitution.

  5. 5.

    The Casablanca Group was an organization of African states (Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea, Libya, Mali and Morocco) led by Kwame Nkrumah, leading proponent of Pan-Africanism. The Brazzaville Group was made up of 20 African nations, including Nigeria, Ethiopia, Liberia and Sierra Leone. In general terms, it favoured a less formal confederation of newly independent African states and a more voluntary approach to participation in cultural and economic exchange (and less socialism) than did the Casablanca Group.

  6. 6.

    Similarly when Jakarta preparatory meet for Algiers-Bandung type conference was being held, Egypt put the proposal that no dispute like the Sino-Indian should be considered as precondition for such a meet.

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  1. UGC Centre for African Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, 110067, India

    Ajay Kumar Dubey

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  1. Ajay Kumar Dubey
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  1. UGC Centre for African Studies School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India

    Ajay Kumar Dubey

  2. Centre for African Studies (CAS), University of Mumbai, Mumbai, India

    Aparajita Biswas

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Dubey, A.K. (2016). India–Africa Relations: Historical Goodwill and a Vision for the Future. In: Dubey, A., Biswas, A. (eds) India and Africa's Partnership. India Studies in Business and Economics. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2619-2_2

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