India-Zambia hold 6th Session of Joint Permanent Commission

Zambia and India strengthen bilateral ties in various sectors during the 6th Session of Joint Permanent Commission.

Zambia Foreign Minister Mulambo Haimbe and Kirti Vardhan Singh, Minister of State for External co-chaired the 6th Session of Zambia- India Joint Permanent Commission on November 6, in Lusaka.

Both leaders expressed appreciation for the growing momentum in bilateral relationships and re-affirmed their commitment to further strengthen bilateral ties for the benefit of the people of both countries. The two leaders expressed satisfaction with the continued exchange of visits and underlined the importance of regular exchange at the political and official levels, including interactions within multilateral and plurilateral fora, including the U.N. They further acknowledged the need to organise more events and programmes in each other’s country to commemorate 60 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Zambia.

Both sides reviewed and discussed cooperation in the areas of Agriculture, Education, Science & Technology, Energy, Culture, Housing and Urban Development, Finance, Development Partnership, Training Scholarship and Capacity Building, Defence, Mines and Mineral Resources, Transport & Communications, Water Development and Sanitation, Disaster Management Healthcare, Cooperative & SMEs, and Consular issues. Both leaders underscored the need to realise the untapped potential in these important sectors of bilateral cooperation.

The two leaders highlighted the need to expand the existing cooperation in agriculture and agro-processing sector. This included the proposal by the Indian side about the gifting of 100 solar power irrigation pumps to Zambia as well as increasing cooperation in the small-scale irrigation area through private sector initiatives. Both sides also acknowledged the growing scope of cooperation in this sector and the Zambian side highlighted the need to consider more ITEC slots for short-term training programmes for them.

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India and Zambia also discussed the early commencement of the India- Zambia Technology Transfer Programme. Given the energy shortage in Zambia, both sides discussed ways to expedite the implementation of the proposal by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for setting up a 400 MW solar power plant in Zambia under the ISA-Programme. Indian side urged for an early conclusion of the tripartite agreement between Zambia, NTPC and ISA. Both sides also discussed technical cooperation in areas of new construction technologies and techniques in mass affordable housing, sharing innovative low-cost housing technologies, which are scalable and environmentally sustainable.

Indian and Zambian leaders appreciated the growing cooperation in the area of mines and mineral resources. Indian side offered support on training needs and sought specific investment proposals in the mining sector, particularly critical minerals. Both sides also reviewed Defence cooperation between the two countries and emphasised the need for an early constitution of the Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) to provide structured cooperation in this sector.