The State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Henry Okello Oryem has met with the High Commissioner of India to Uganda, Upender Singh Rawa in a bid to further bolster ties between the two countries which are already blossoming.
The meeting was a follow-up to the successful visit of an Indian business delegation to Uganda earlier this month that aimed at fostering commercial and economic cooperation between the two countries.
During the meeting, both parties engaged in productive discussions regarding ongoing and upcoming investment projects that could benefit both India and Uganda.
The High Commissioner expressed India’s keen interest in furthering collaboration in key sectors such as technology, energy and infrastructure.
On the other side, Minister Okello Oryem thanked the government of India for the continued interest in Uganda’s economic growth and development.
He emphasized the importance of such partnerships in driving innovation, creating job opportunities, and enhancing the overall socio-economic landscape of the nation.
Both parties said they remain optimistic about the positive outcomes that could arise from this collaborative effort.
The Indian High Commissioner reaffirmed his country’s commitment to supporting Uganda’s development agenda and looked forward to further engagements that will solidify the partnership between the two nations.
Blossoming relations
India and Uganda share historical relations spanning over a century.
Indians first came to Uganda in the beginning of 20th century during the construction of the Uganda Railway while India’s freedom struggle inspired the early Ugandan activists to fight colonization and eventually Uganda achieved freedom in 1962.
During the reign of President Amin in early 70’s, around 60,000 Indians were expelled from Uganda.
However, after coming into power in 1986, President Museveni invited them back.
Several progressive steps like restoring properties seized from Indians encouraged many of them to come back and make a fresh start.
Relations between India and Uganda, over the years, have acquired a greater depth and breadth in areas such as political, defence, economic, commercial, cultural, education, health and tourism among others.
There have been several high level visits between the two countries over the years.
The Indian community presents the strongest and most durable economic and cultural links with Uganda. It is estimated that at present, there are approximately 30,000 Indians are living in Uganda.
Indians play a leading role in the Ugandan economy, especially in manufacturing, trade, agro-processing, banking, sugar, real estate, hotels, tourism and information technology.
They employ thousands of Ugandans, and are amongst the biggest taxpayers in the country.
Indians are estimated to have invested over US$ 1 billion in Uganda in the last two decades but also contribute about 70% of Uganda’s direct taxes as per statistics of the Bank of Uganda and the Uganda Revenue Authority.
