India, Malawi ink four pacts to boost economic cooperation

NEW DELHI - India and Malawi on Wednesday signed four bilateral agreements to deepen cooperation in the fields of health, rural development and mineral resources.

Malawian President Bingu Wa Mutharika and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh held discussions on several issues for about an hour at Hyderabad House here before the pacts were signed.

Earlier, Mutharika was accorded ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

In his brief comment on the occasion, he said he was in Delhi to strengthen bilateral relations with India.

Lauding India’s contribution in the field of infrastructure, information and technology, medicine, trade and agriculture, he said these areas are of priority to African development in general and to Malawi in particular.

President Mutharika will also hold meetings with his Indian counterpart Pratibha Devisingh Patil, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, besides other dignitaries.

India provided a line of credit of 30 million US dollars to Malawi in 2008 that was used for irrigation, grain storage and tobacco threshing.

Another line of credit of 50 million US dollars was announced during the visit of Vice-President Hamid Ansari in January 2010.

Both countries will deliberate on measures to boost bilateral trade that currently stands at 185 million US dollars. (ANI)