Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Nigerian President Yar’ Adua on Monday sought to strengthen relations between the two countries through the proclamation of the “Abuja Declaration” in Nigeria. The visit is the first by an Indian Prime Minister after 1962. Among African countries, Nigeria holds a special significance for India. It is a major oil producing country and is India’s largest trading partner in Africa.  At the people-to-people level, Nigeria has a sizeable Indian community, while India hosts a strong Nigerian student community. Both countries have the potential to substantially expand their bilateral trade flows and investments and this needs to be tapped. The two leaders have agreed to boost their trade ties and investment in each other’s country. They have also decided to expand their existing cooperation in defence and diplomacy. From an Indian perspective a larger footprint in Nigeria would be a counter to the growing Chinese influence in other African countries.

Considering the fact that the two countries have no major irritants and their political relations are good, the scope to expand economic engagement is excellent. This explains the presence of major Indian public sector undertakings in sectors like power, oil, machine tools, non-life insurance and banking. Other areas, where the private sector is also present, are information technology, pharmaceuticals, textiles, chemicals and electrical equipment. While the Nigerian armed forces have procured combat support systems like trucks from India, there is scope for  more defence exports. Another area of co-operation is participation in military infrastructure development projects like upgradation of airfields and dockyards.   

India and Nigeria share common perspectives on international, political, social and developmental issues which are reflected by their positions at the UN or WTO from time to time. The cordiality in their bilateral relations is also evident from the number of high- level visits at the official level and the exchange of  business and trade delegations over the past few years. While India would like to expand its economic engagement with Nigeria through the presence of both its public and private sector companies, the physical security of the Indian community needs to be ensured, given the large areas of lawlessness there. This needs to be addressed on priority as it has the potential to hamper Indian economic and political interests in Nigeria in the future.