Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday inaugurated the two-day first ever India-Africa Forum Partnership Summit and announced that New Delhi would give preferential market access to 34 African countries.

In his Inauguration statement to the summit, attended by leaders of 14 African countries including 10 heads of state and government, Dr Manmohan Singh called for "transforming the 21st century into a century of Asia and Africa." "India and Africa share a common societal commitment to pluralism, to inclusiveness and to the creation of a world that is fair to all its inhabitants. Our shared vision of the world should enable us to work together on the vital challenges facing humanity ... No one understands better than India and Africa the imperative need for global institutions to reflect current realities and to build a more equitable global economy and policy," Singh said. "The time has come to create a new architecture for our engagement in the 21st Century ... Working together, the two billion people of India and Africa can set an example of fruitful cooperation in the developing world," he stressed. He added, "We recognize the crucial importance of market access in ensuring the development dimension of international trade. I am happy to announce a Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme for Least Developed Countries on the occasion of this Summit. Under this Scheme, India shall unilaterally provide preferential market access for exports from all 50 least developed countries, 34 of which are in Africa. "The Scheme will cover 94 per cent of India's total tariff lines. Specifically, it will provide preferential market access on tariff lines that comprise 92.5 per cent of global exports of all Least Developed Countries.

"Products of immediate interest to Africa which are covered include cotton, cocoa, aluminium ores, copper ores, cashew nuts, cane sugar, ready-made garments, fish fillets and non-industrial diamonds." "Events in India and Africa in the middle of the 20th Century changed the world. Today we have a second chance to take charge of our own destiny, and give new meaning to the concept of sustainable, equitable and environment-friendly development," Singh said.

Amongst those attending the Summit from Africa are South African President Thabo Mbeki, Uganda President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Burkina Faso Prime Minister Tertius Zongo, Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila Kabange, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Ghana President John Agyekum Kufuor, Kenyan Prime Minister Mwai Kibaki and Senegal President Maitre Abdoulaye Wade.

The Summit would have two outcome documents -- a Delhi Declaration and an Africa-India Framework for Cooperation. The Delhi Declaration will be a political document and would cover issues of bilateral, regional and international interest to India and Africa, including common positions of India and Africa on UN Reforms, climate change, WTO, and international terrorism.
The Framework for Cooperation will spell out agreed areas of cooperation. The areas on which India and Africa have agreed to focus include human resources and institutional capacity building, education, science technology, agricultural productivity and food security, industrial growth, development of the health sector, development of infrastructure, ICT and the establishment of judicial systems with police and defence establishments under civilian control.