As US foreign aid cut triggers concern, India vows to work with Japan to support sustainable development in Africa

New Delhi: India and Japan are well-positioned to support sustainable and inclusive development in Africa, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, amid growing concerns in the continent over the recent moves by President Donald Trump’s administration in Washington DC to suspend, curtail or cancel the foreign aid of the United States government.

“The growth and prosperity of Africa will not only benefit its people but also contribute to broader global stability and economic progress. India and Japan, with their complementary strengths, are well-positioned to support Africa’s development in a sustainable and inclusive manner,” Jaishankar said at the Japan-India-Africa business forum on Wednesday.

He made the comment even as the Trump Administration’s moves to freeze US foreign aid and dismantle the US Agency for International Development put at risk many projects for the welfare of the poor in Africa, including in the healthcare and education sectors.

Jaishankar also tacitly hit out China’s predatory lending practices and debt-trap diplomacy in Africa, albeit without directly naming the communist country.

“India’s approach to Africa has always been guided by a deep-rooted commitment to building long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships,” the external affairs minister said.

“Unlike extractive models of engagement, India believes in capacity-building, skill development, and technology transfer, ensuring that African countries not only benefit from investments but also develop self-sustaining growth ecosystems.”

He noted that New Delhi initiatives in Africa, such as the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program, the Pan-African e-Network Project, and High-Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs), had strengthened local capacities across education, health, and digital infrastructure.

To provide high-quality virtual education and medical services to people in Africa, the e-VidyaBharti and e-ArogyaBharti network was launched by New Delhi in 2019 for tele-education and telemedicine.

The youth from 19 African countries have enrolled for various courses in undergraduate, postgraduate and diploma courses under the scheme. “India believes that investments in human capital would be a truly collaborative and mutually beneficial partnership with Africa,” said Jaishankar.

He said that India was Africa’s fourth-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching nearly $100 billion and growing steadily.

India had also made a significant commitment to Africa’s connectivity and infrastructure development, with over $12 billion in concessional credit and more than 200 completed projects spread across the continent in areas such as railways, power generation, agriculture, and water supply.

India’s development projects in various sectors such as drinking water schemes to irrigation, rural solar electrification, power plants, transmission lines, cement, sugar and textile factories, technology parks and railway infrastructure have generated local employment and in fact changed life in Africa, added the external affairs minister.