India announces $250 million agriculture aid to boost ties with Kenya | India News

NEW DELHI: India and Kenya looked to boost defence, maritime and connectivity ties as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with visiting President William Ruto and announced a new $250 million line of credit to help the east African country improve its agriculture sector. The two countries also signed five agreements and issued a vision document for maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean.

The government confirmed that it had also raised the issue concerning two Indian nationals, one of them a well-known media professional employed with a TV company, who went missing from Nairobi last year in July. Kenya is yet to officially confirm if the local media reports claiming they were killed for assisting the social media campaign of the president are true. The government said that the Indian high commission continues to monitor developments related to the case and remains in touch with Kenyan authorities.
Significantly, the meeting saw Kenya offering, in line with local laws, to provide land to Indian companies and institutions for cultivation of crops, including millets, in the coastal African country.
“The Government of India undertook to encourage Indian companies for investment in the sector, including in equipment and technology on mutually agreed terms. Both sides noted that enhancing bilateral agricultural cooperation would increase bilateral trade and contribute to food security in Kenya,” said a joint statement issued after the meeting.
Modi said that India and Kenya were unanimous that terrorism was the most serious challenge to humanity and that they decided to increase mutual cooperation in the field of counter-terrorism. Looking to intensify defence cooperation, the leaders agreed to continue working towards expanding training exchanges, including deputation of Indian experts, in Kenyan defence institutions. Both sides also called for increasing cooperation between the defence industries, ship visits and periodic exchange of high-level visits from both sides, according to the joint statement.
Watch Defence forces of India, Kenya to work together: Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto