India-Africa joint declaration: No ‘Colonialism’ as per wish of Morocco

NEW DELHI: India’s relationship with Africa, rooted in the anti-colonial solidarity since the heyday of Non-Aligned Movement, is looking beyond this issue with a sharper focus on robust economic partnership. This was evident when India, at last week’s mega Africa Summit, nuanced its position more to work out a compromise between Morocco and a few members of the African Union (AU) members to drop the terminology of colonialism from the final declaration and also worked with African nations to refer to the stated position on Palestine as per AU’s wishes.

More than 20 AU members and Morocco have had a long tussle over recognition of Western Saharan territory “carved out” of the North African state of Morocco. Many members of the AU view Morocco as coloniser of Western Sahara.

Senior officials indicated to ET that differences emerged between Morocco and some African states on the issue of the status of Western Sahara during the summit-related meetings. Morocco wanted colonialism terminology, as suggested by a few AU states, to be dropped from the final document and finally its wish prevailed. India had to play the role of the mediator.

“Our shared common experience of a colonial past and the solidarity of our resistance to it, have cemented our common yearning for a more just and fair international political and economic order in an increasingly globalized world,” the final document (Delhi Declaration) stated in a nuanced fashion as one of the many points.

While India favours a two-state solution to Israel-Palestine issue, the AU wanted to include a paragraph on the issue of Palestine in the document. Officials said India had no objections and the matter was addressed in 10 minutes.