Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's statement at the joint press conference with President Guebuza

It is a great honour for me to welcome His Excellency President Armando Guebuza on his first visit to India as the President of Mozambique. The President has shown great leadership in taking his country on the path of economic development within the framework of a democratic polity.

India's relations with Mozambique go back in time to the pre-colonial period. India extended its full support to Mozambique in its struggle for independence and emergence as an independent sovereign nation.

We both belong to the same Indian Ocean community and we share common concerns. It is in our mutual interest to ensure the safety and security of sea lanes of communication in the Indian Ocean. Our relations are therefore warm, cooperative and marked by deep mutual understanding and friendship.

President Guebuza and I have decided to build upon the solid foundations of the past, and create a partnership based on the following four pillars:

� Greater political engagement;

� Deepening economic cooperation;

� Strengthening defence and security cooperation; and,

� Cooperation in capacity building and human resource development.

We have agreed to exploit our mutual complementarities in areas of trade and economic cooperation, transportation, railways, mining, coal, agriculture, small and medium enterprises and science and technology.

I conveyed India's readiness to be a partner in Mozambique's development efforts. India will provide a line of credit of 500 million US dollars for infrastructure projects, agriculture and energy. India will support the establishment of training and planning institutions in Mozambique to support capacity building in the coal industry. India will also support capacity building for the defence and police forces of Mozambique.

The Agreements that have been signed today on avoidance of double taxation, cooperation in mineral resources and between middle and small enterprises will strengthen our partnership. We have decided to set a target of bilateral trade of one billion US dollars by the year 2013.

As one of Africa's foremost leaders, President Guebuza's leadership and guidance will play an important role in shaping India's partnership with Africa. We will work closely with Mozambique on regional and other issues, as well as in preparations for the next India-Africa Summit in Africa in 2011.

I deeply appreciate President Guebuza's commitment to India-Mozambique friendship and to take our bilateral relations to a higher trajectory. Based on our discussions, and the bilateral agreements that have been concluded today, I can say with confidence that President Guebaza's visit to India has opened a new chapter in our bilateral relations.