New Delhi: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said India and the African continent needed to work to remove “anomalies” in the UN. She said this during her inaugural address at the “third India-Africa Editors’ Forum” a day before the four-day India-Africa Forum Summit, of India and all 54 African countries, begins here on Monday.
Referring to the importance of the summit in his monthly “Mann Ki Baat” radio programme Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too said: “From October 26 to 29, the India-Africa Forum Summit is being held here. On Indian soil, it is for the first an event of such a big scale is being held. Leaders of 54 African countries and unions have been invited. Outside Africa, this is the biggest convention.”
Speaking on Sunday, Ms Swaraj lamented that Africa, despite being the largest continent in terms of the number of countries, and India, with one-sixth of the world’s population and “all credentials to be a permanent member of the Security Council”, still don’t have permanent UNSC membership.
On Sunday, in “Mann Ki Baat”, Mr Modi said it was for the first time an event of such a big scale was being held in India, and that historic linkages and relations between India and Africa went deep.
