External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and his Nigerian counterpart Geoffrey Onyeama held wide ranging discussions on the entire gamut of bilateral relations in virtual mode yesterday.
During the interaction which lasted for 75 minutes, the two Ministers recognized and acknowledged the excellent long standing, multifaceted and strategic bilateral ties between the two countries, based on mutual friendship and cooperation.
India being the largest democracy in the world and Nigeria the largest democracy in Africa, share the values of pluralism, inclusiveness and sustainable development for all. The discussions covered a wide spectrum of cooperation on political, economic and trade, defense and security, developmental assistance and cultural cooperation.
Both sides recalled their extensive cooperation in the field of defense training and capacity building. They expressed satisfaction that it was expanding to newer areas such as defense equipment support, medical and maintenance services, sharing of R&D expertise for counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency, and regular exchange of information and views.
The two Ministers noted that the next meeting of the Joint Defense Cooperation Committee will be held later this year in Abuja. The Nigerian side expressed appreciation to India for the recent donation of medical supplies in support of the on-going fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Jaishankar reiterated India’s continued support in technical cooperation and capacity building in diverse sectors of interest to Nigeria.
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