NEW DELHI: President Draupadi Murmu on Saturday embarked on a six-day state visit to Angola and Botswana as part of India’s efforts to open new avenues for cooperation and expand partnership with the two countries in the African region.This will be the first ever state visit of an Indian head of state to these countries.On the first leg of his journey, Murmu will reach the Angolan capital of Luanda and conduct high-level combat operations from November 8 to 11.From November 11 to 13, she will be in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana.President Murmu will hold bilateral talks with his Angolan counterpart João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenco and will take part in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the independence of the African state.She is also scheduled to speak at the Angolan parliament and interact with members of the Indian community in that country.This year, India and Angola also celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations.“India and Angola have very close ties of friendship and cooperation, which are developing in various fields. We have an active energy partnership with Angola,” Sudhakar Dalela, Secretary (Economic Relations), Ministry of External Affairs, said at a briefing on Thursday.The visit will provide an opportunity to review the full range of bilateral ties and expand mutually beneficial cooperation in areas such as agriculture, health, energy, trade and investment, technology, infrastructure development, defense and people-to-people ties, he said.In Botswana, President Murmu will meet his Duma counterpart Gideon Boko and address the national assembly in Gaborone.“We are confident that the visit of Honorable Rashtrapaji will further strengthen India’s long-standing ties of cooperation with Angola and Botswana and open new avenues for cooperation and expansion of our partnership.“It also, as I said earlier, reflects India’s strong commitment to further strengthen its multifaceted partnership with the African continent,” the secretary said.
