60^th Anniversary of Establishment of Diplomatic /Relations of India and Ethiopia

The diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and India started in 1948 at a legation level. This relation was raised to ambassadorial level in 1952. But the people of the two countries have had contacts through trade and commerce starting from ancient times.

Ever since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries have exerted effort to strengthen their relations. Exchange of Visits were made by the leaders of the two countries. The late Emperor Haile Selassie made two official visits to India in 1956 and 1968. The former President of India, H.E. Mr. Radhakrishnan, visited Ethiopia in 1957 and the then Vice President of India, Dr. Zakir Hussain paid an official visit to Ethiopia in 1960.

More recently, H.E. Prime Minster Ato Meles Zenawi made an official visit to India in March 1997. The Prime Minster also paid two visit to India in November 2007 and April 2008 to attend the 4^th International Conference on Federalism and the India-Africa Forum Summit respectively. H.E. Ato Seyoum Mesfin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, also paid an official visit to India in 1992. This was reciprocated by H.E. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee’s, Minister for External Affairs of India, when he officially visited Ethiopia in 2007.

In recent years, the relations between Ethiopia and India have deepened significantly India’s commitment to share its experts in various areas is appreciated by Ethiopia. To this effect, the Pan-African E-Network project, an initiative to use Indian expertise in information technology to bring beneficiary of health care and higher education to all African countries is worth mentioning. Ethiopia is beneficiary of this pilot project on tele medicine and tele education which was inaugurated last year during H.E. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee’s visit and is currently operational.

India has also been giving scholarships to a number of Ethiopian students to pursue their studies in various Indian Universities through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation program.

The trade and investment relationship between the two countries is progressing well. Although the trade balance favors India, the investment by Indians in Ethiopia is showing increment from year to year.

For example in the 2007/08 the trade volume of the two countries was $ 470 million US Dollars. By the same token, some 370 Indian investors have secured investment licenses worth a total capital of close to 3.5 billion US dollars.

The two countries and governments are deploying efforts to strengthen economic cooperation. In this regard, five agreements have been signed in 2007 to provide legal frame work in the areas of investment and Science and technology, among other things.

The Government of India has also been Keen to lend Ethiopia more than 700 Million US dollars for the development and expansion of power and sugar industries.

To Commemorate the 60^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India & Ethiopia, The Ethiopian Postal Service has released the following three commemorative stamps.

• yellow Daisies (Meskel Flower or Adey Abeba) and Lotus flower (Indian National Flower).
• Ethiopian and Indian National Emblems.
• Lalibela Church and Taj mahal (one of the seven wonders of the world).

These postal stamps reflect the strong ties between India & Ethiopia which have evolved during the last 60 years.

Source: Indian Embassy in Ethiopia & Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.