The celebration of 75 years of India’s Independence and ongoing Amrit Mahotsav has led to deepening of India-Mali relationship. In particular, numerous events held in various parts of Mali have reinforced the people-to-people relationship between India and Mali and expanded the goodwill for each other and awareness about the growing potential for win-win partnership between the two countries.

“The beautiful thing about celebration of India’s Amrit Mahotsav in Mali has been the active participation of cross-sections of Malian community, including representatives of the Government, business, industry, writers, academicians, Members of National Assembly, artistes, sportspersons and the growing community of Indophiles which plays a key role in promoting people-to-people friendship and act a cultural bridge between India and Mali.

In fact, a beautiful thing which has evolved during the last year and has taken place multiple times across various cities of Mali is that the Indian National Anthem is sung by a Malian national and the Malian National Anthem in Bambara (Mali’s native language and lingua franca) has been sung my me! A true gesture of friendship and solidarity between our two countries,” India’s ambassador Anjani Kumar in Mali tells Financial Express Online.

Bilateral Relationship

Speaking to Financial Express Online on Monday (August 15, 2022), Ambassador Kumar highlighted the efforts of the mission in promoting the bilateral trade and commerce ties.

“In the context of India-Mali bilateral relationship, what really stands out is the strong desire in Mali, cutting across sectors, for a more diversified and expanded engagement with India in diverse sectors – health and pharmaceuticals, information and communication technologies, higher education, clean and renewable energy, agriculture and agro-industries, cotton and textiles, smart cities, investments in infrastructure development and harnessing of Mali’s natural resources etc.,” he says.

Adding, “The Indian Mission in Mali has organised and also participated in various events to promote bilateral trade and commerce. While there is growing interest in Mali among the Indian business, there is a need for Indian entrepreneurs to take a much closer look at the opportunities that Mali offers in diverse sectors.”

Indian Mission in Mali & Soft Diplomacy

India has been the guest country in multiple Malian festivals and cultural events across various cities of Mali apart from Bamako such as Segou, Sikasso, Koulikoro and Kita. The Embassy also collaborated with leading Malian Festivals like Bama’Art and Festival Ali Farka Touré to highlight synergy and friendship between our two countries. This has not only brought focus on India’s 75 years of Independence but also highlighted the synergy, friendship and possibilities of win-win partnership between the two friendly countries.

Some stand-alone cultural events have also been organised by the Embassy which have been widely attended and successful. An encouraging aspect of such celebrations has been that the Indian business community in Mali has come forward to support such events. Mali was one of the eight countries whose cultural troupe participated in the National Tribal Festival held in Chhattisgarh in October 2021.

India Community in Mali

“A welcome contribution to the India-Mali relationship is being increasingly made by the members of the vibrant Indian community living in Mali. In the last one year, the Indian community, with active encouragement and facilitation from the Embassy, has come forward to fulfil some of the needs of the Malian people as part of their CSR activities. In this regard, I am happy to highlight that in recent months, Indians have helped create drinking water facilities at multiple places in Bamako,” says Ambassador Kumar.

“At least five bore wells along with required overhead water tanks, pumps and taps have been built at two leading schools, one major hospital, one well-known police academy and one at the World Vegetable Centre in Bamako. These were undertaken based on the needs expressed by the local authorities which were subsequently channelized through the willing support of the Indian community. It must be added that this commitment of the Indian community to contribute to the society where they are living in has added to their growing goodwill and much appreciated by the Malian community, including ministers and dignitaries. As a result of these initiatives by the Indian community, more such requests are being received for such low-hanging fruits which directly benefit the people.”

According to him, “The Indian diaspora in Mali plays an important role in the growing bilateral relationship. They are engaged in strengthening win-win partnership in numerous sectors ranging from textiles, pharmaceuticals, mining, cement and steel production, soaps and chemicals, cashew processing plant, trading in white goods, agro-industries, tea, tractors, tiles, two-and three-wheelers, and services like restaurants, travel and tourism etc.”

Development Partnership: India lends a helping hand

India’s development partnership forms an important pillar of bilateral relationship. It is heartening to see that the USD100 million under India’s Line of Credit for 400 kms of electricity transmission line from Mali’s southern city of Sikasso and Mali’s capital Bamako is progressing well despite various challenges during the last year like Covid19 pandemic and ECOWAS sanctions against Mali which had led to closure of borders with ECOWAS members. 

Education

There is growing interest among the Malian youth for India as a destination for higher studies due to high quality education at affordable prices and diverse and enriching cultural milieu in India. “In view of the growing demand for higher education in India, ICCR, at the request of the Embassy, almost doubled the number of scholarships offered to Malian nationals during the current year compared to last year. Malian professionals are also offered seventy slots for training under India’s flagship development partnership programme, ITEC. In addition to these, Malian nationals are also making use of online professional courses under e-Vidya Bharti Arogya Bharati (e-VBAB) Project which also offers 100% scholarship. It is interesting to note that a growing number of Malians choose India for their higher studies as self-financed students and are present in Indian universities from Punjab to Kerala,” says the ambassador.

“As India celebrates 75 years of its Independence and Mali celebrates its 63rd Independence Day later next month on 22 September, it would be reasonable to say that the bilateral relationship is poised for moving forward to realize its immense potential for the benefit of people of our two countries,” he states.