External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar arrived in Accra on Tuesday for a two-day official visit to Ghana, marking the first stop of a five-day African tour aimed at expanding trade, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural cooperation under a newly elevated Comprehensive Partnership.
The diplomatic outreach is designed to further strengthen India’s trade links, explore infrastructure and critical mineral opportunities, and enhance capacity building across the region. Ministry of External Affairs officials stated that the tour reflects India’s ongoing commitment to deepen partnerships with Africa and advance the interests of the Global South. This follows the postponement months prior of the fourth India-Africa Summit, which had been slated for May due to evolving public health situations in parts of the continent.
In July, Surinder Bhagat, India’s High Commissioner designate to Ghana, met with Major General Paul Seidu Tanye-Kulono, Acting Director General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, for a courtesy call aimed at fostering maritime cooperation. The High Commissioner also met with Kamal-Deen Ali, Director General of the Ghana Maritime Authority, to address the safety, welfare, and well-being of Indian seafarers and crew members operating in Ghanaian waters.
Bilateral Talks and Ghana’s Accra Reset Policy
Upon touching down in the capital, Dr. Jaishankar received a warm welcome from Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. Mr. Ablakwa greeted his counterpart on social media by calling him a great friend of Ghana and noting that their diplomatic ties were officially elevated to a Comprehensive Partnership during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit last year.
During the visit, Ghana and India will hold discussions that will advance their relations in pharmaceutical development within the framework of President (John Dramani) Mahama’s Accra Reset philosophy; deepening agricultural cooperation in mechanisation and value addition; support for President Mahama’s industrialisation and job creation agenda; and expanding scholarships and IT partnerships.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ghana, via Social News XYZ
Mr. Ablakwa explained that the pharmaceutical sector collaboration specifically supports President John Dramani Mahama’s Accra Reset policy, which seeks to reduce foreign aid dependency, build domestic industrial capacity, and boost local processing of agricultural and mineral goods. Alongside health and agriculture, the two nations signed memoranda of understanding covering railway development, zoological studies, and information and communication technology.
Ghana Applies to Join BRICS Group
During a press briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ablakwa disclosed that the Ghanaian Cabinet approved an application to join the BRICS group of emerging economies, intending to leverage member relationships to expand trade and investment. Dr. Jaishankar acknowledged the proposal, noting that India’s diplomatic relationship with Ghana stretches back to the country’s independence in 1957 and that Ghana’s interest in joining BRICS will be evaluated through their broader diplomatic framework.
Trade between the two nations strongly leans toward Ghanaian outbound shipments, largely propelled by India’s massive purchases of gold, which represent more than 70 per cent of all goods imported from Ghana. Ghana is also seeking to maximize market access through the African Continental Free Trade Area. Additional imports from Côte d’Ivoire include cashews, natural rubber, cotton, and teak wood, while Indian imports from Ethiopia consist of pulses, flax yarn, precious and semiprecious stones, vegetables, lead articles, oil seeds, spices, and leather.
Jaishankar Visits Nations Focusing on Critical Minerals
Following his engagements in Accra, Dr. Jaishankar will continue his journey to Côte d’Ivoire and Ethiopia, nations that are expanding their mining sectors to focus on critical minerals alongside gold extraction. In addition to bilateral meetings with foreign counterparts and heads of state, the itinerary includes addressing supply chain vulnerabilities and economic pressures stemming from West Asian and Russia-Ukraine conflicts on food, fuel, fertilizers, and finance. While transiting through Addis Ababa earlier, Dr. Jaishankar met with Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey. This followed a previous meeting in New Delhi where the External Affairs Minister conferred with former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to discuss global developments and the evolving situation in the Indo-Pacific. Once he reaches the Ethiopian capital, the External Affairs Minister will chair a conference of Indian Regional Heads of Mission to align diplomatic objectives across Africa.