An electronic network that acts as the harbinger of India's development efforts to Africa, built on Indian expertise in the field of IT & Space Technology.
India, last month, announced setting up of a bridge that would connect it with the economically & strategically important Central Asian countries of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan & Turkmenistan. Playing to its strength in the fields of Information Technology [I.T] & Space Technology, this connectivity would, therefore, be in the form of an e-Network, with a hub that, will be situated in India.
Not only would such a network play a role in benefitting the people of the region [health & education], it also serves as the most relevant platform, currently, for India to develop a strong & organic relationship with a region vital for India's security, energy & internal. As part of India's multi-pronged approach towards the region, this network would, thus, help develop a bond between the people, imbibing a positive outlook towards each other, through communication & interaction.
This network for the Central Asian Region [CAR], is essentially the replication of a template that India had already executed in the continent of Africa, with great success. The network in Africa, called the 'Pan-African e-Network' joins 47 African countries to India, giving them access to some of India's finest medical institutes through Tele-medicine & Educational Institutions through Tele-Education.
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The success & genuineness of India's approach to engagement with African nations can be gauged from, these comments made recently by the African Union's Commissioner For Human Resource, Science And Technology, Dr. Jean-Pierre Ezin,
"Africa needs India for developing its most precious resource: human capital."
"They [Chinese] are not really interested in what we really need - the transfer of knowledge"
"We need to develop skills in Africa. India is building 10 vocational educational centres at the rate of two per region. We need an acceleration of India's efforts in this direction"
"It is in this sphere of education and capacity building that India can make a big difference"
Also, as mentioned in the article, "The training institutes distinguish India's development-centric approach from that of China's focus on massive infrastructure projects, hydrocarbons and mineral resources"
Thus, riding on the success of this recently established e-network, and continued annual flow of students from Africa to India for education, from many decades earlier, India's bottom-up approach has been quite successful in setting up a strong foundation for long-standing relationship with the nations of Africa, opening up further avenues of engagement.
This presentation, below, gives an overview of the structure & functioning of the Pan-African e-Network & what it aims to achieve.
via itu.int [PDF]
Godspeed
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