Uganda, India sign defence pact

Kampala. Uganda and India yesterday signed a defence pact that will see the two countries strengthen existing ties in military training.
The defence deal was one of four memoranda of understanding (MoU) signed at State House Entebbe at the start of a two-day state visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Other agreements signed yesterday included exemption for visa requirements for holders of diplomatic passports travelling between the two countries, cultural cooperation and exchange programme, and establishing a regional materials testing laboratory.
Without elaborating, President Museveni said: “We shall cooperate in a number of training areas; most of the details are in the signed protocol.”
On his part Mr Modi said in addition to military training, his government will also give Uganda ambulances and other vehicles to be used by the army.
In a joint communique issued at State House Entebbe yesterday, the two leaders said they were committed to combating terrorism in all its forms.
“Both leaders agreed that terrorism poses a grave threat to global peace and stability and reiterated their strong commitment to combat it in all its forms and manifestations. They stressed that there could be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds whatsoever,” the joint statement read in part.

Trade
President Museveni also told journalists that Mr Modi announced during their one-on-one meeting that his government would extend a $200 million credit to Uganda that will be spent in buying products from India.
The President said Uganda will use the credit to buy machinery for value addition to agricultural products.
“Prime Minister Modi has said his country will extend to us $200 million (about Shs742.4 billion) worth of credit and we shall use the money to buy things from India,” Mr Museveni said.

He instructed the Uganda Development Bank (UDB) to plan for the credit so that the value addition machines are imported from India, adding that the country had “slept” by not using the $10 million credit India extended to Uganda during the last Africa-India summit.
The two leaders also agreed to maintain the strong business ties between Uganda and India as the two countries will continue buying each other’s products.
“Uganda will continue buying their (Indian) products as they also buy our products. In 2015, we spent $1.2 billion on Indian imports but it has reduced to $736 million today. However, we now export products worth $44 million up from $24 million in 2015,” Mr Museveni added.

Tourism
To boost tourism, the two leaders agreed to market the Ugandan tourism sector.
Describing Uganda’s weather as one of the best, President Museveni said the Indian tourists would pour a lot of dollars into the Ugandan economy.
“I now ask the prime minister for a chance to allow Uganda Airlines to fly direct to Bombay city because this would be able to deal with tourists coming to Uganda,” Mr Museveni said.

Healthcare
The two leaders also discussed how to strengthen healthcare ties, with Uganda having been sending hundreds of patients for specialised medical attention at top Indian hospitals every year.
Mr Museveni said: “On the side of healthcare, the prime minister is proposing that some Indian groups come and invest here in healthcare. The exodus of Ugandans to India seeking treatment would be less.”
Prime Minister Modi commended President Museveni for inviting him for bilateral talks saying his county will support Uganda in capacity building, technology and infrastructure development.

He also promised to support the Uganda Cancer Institute with the donation of a cancer therapy machine.
Premier Modi, who arrived in Uganda from the neighbouring Rwanda, was received by President Museveni at State House Entebbe where he inspected a guard of honour before the two held talks.
Last evening, Mr Modi and President Museveni addressed thousands of Indians living and working in Uganda at the Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in Kampala.
Mr Modi will today address a business forum at Serena Conference Centre before addressing the Parliament of Uganda.

INDIANS IN UGANDA
There more than 30,000 Indians living in Uganda and some of them have been pushing to be recognised as one of the tribes here.
The Indian government also promised to construct a Mahatma Gandhi Convention Centre at the Source of River Nile in Jinja where portions of ashes of the remains of first Indian prime minister were scattered.

[email protected]