External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's Accra visit produced two research agreements and talks on trade, defence, technology and engagement with African regional bodies.

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• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar began a three-nation tour of Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Ethiopia on October 6, with the visit scheduled to run through October 10.
• Ghana's media described it as the first official visit to Ghana by an Indian External Affairs Minister.
• He met Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama and held talks with Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa on the India-Ghana Comprehensive Partnership.
• The talks covered trade, defence, technology and deeper Indian engagement with the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States.
• Ghana is a founding member of ECOWAS, a 15-member regional bloc in West Africa.
• Two memoranda of understanding were exchanged in the presence of both foreign ministers.
• The first links the Zoological Survey of India with the University of Ghana for scientific research, academic activities and capacity building.
• The second is a five-year framework between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Ghana's CSIR-Crops Research Institute for agricultural research and education.
• The agricultural MoU provides for exchange of scientists, germplasm and breeding materials, scientific information and methods, and institutional linkages between research centres.
• India says the agreements advance South-South and India-Africa collaboration, with Jaishankar describing both countries as Global South partners with shared development aspirations.
• Ghana formally sought India's support for its bid to join BRICS, and Jaishankar said India was sympathetic but that the decision rests with members collectively.
• In Addis Ababa, the final stop, Jaishankar was also due to chair the Regional Heads of Mission Conference.

Tags: IndiaGhana, Jaishankar, IndiaAfricaRelations