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Algerian President’s visit |
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The visit of the Algerian President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to New Delhi as the guest of honour at this year’s Republic Day parade on Jan. 26, has marked the signing of several agreements between the two countries including the one on “bilateral partnership declaration”. Mr. Bouteflika, who incidentally was the first Arab Head of State to be the chief guest at country arrived in New Delhi at the country’s Republic Day in the new millennium, came along with five Ministers of Cabinet and six advisers to provide a substantive thrust to economic, defence and technological ties with India. Besides attending the colourful parade at India Gate on Jan. 26, and the other functions relating to the celebration of the Republic Day, Mr. Bouteflika had wide ranging talks with the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, other Ministers held official level talks with their Indian counterparts like Defence Minister, George Fernandes and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Omar Abdullah and National Security Adviser, Brajesh Mishra. In their talks, they condemned terrorism and expressed their mutual desire to step up cooperation in other areas like defence, trade, commerce, petroleum and information technologies sectors. They agreed to cooperate in their fight against international terrorism. President Bouteflika opposed violence in the name of religion and said in New Delhi the other day: “Islam belongs to a culture of all people and it is deeply rooted in their mind and spirit. But, there is political Islam which can lead you to an extremely difficult situation and extremes of violence.”
The declaration on Bilateral Partnership and the agreements were signed by External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and Algerian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Abdelaziz Belkaden, in the presence of the two leaders. The bilateral partnership declaration covers education, culture and scientific cooperation. The three other agreements related to avoidance of double taxation, cooperation in the field of phyto-sanitary quarantine and vegetation protection and cooperation in the field of veterinary.
Apart from these agreements, which have been officially signed, the two sides are also discussing a Memorandum of Understanding between the Oil and Natural Gas Commission [ONGC] Videsh and Algerian Petrochemical giant, Sonatrach for exploration and production of oil and natural gas in Block 243 in Algeria. Officials say the joint venture would be worth Rs. 2 billion. Another equally important agreement, which is in the process of being finalized, involves Ispat International of India taking over Algeria’s only steel plant. In the biggest disinvestment project undertaken by the Algerian Government, the steel plant is up for sale. Leading industrialist, Laxmi Mittal of the Ispat Group had also visited the African nation in November last year to discuss the proposed deal. Sources said there is strong hope that the deal might be clinched because Algeria’s Disinvestment Minister was included at the last minute in the delegation accompanying Mr. Bouteflika.
Apart from the two deals, Algeria holds great promise for India in the economic field as it is the largest pharmaceutical market in Africa. Algeria is one country in Arab-Africa with which India has had very close relations all along. India strongly supported Algerian war of liberation against the French as a heroic saga of a valiant people’s struggle. India under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru granted de jure recognition to the government of Algeria soon after its independence in June, 1962 and friendly relations developed between the two countries. There is a complete identity of views between the two countries in the UN, NAM, G-15, G-77 and WTO. Both India and Algeria are in recent years victims of fundamentalist Islamic terrorism and they find a great scope in jointly combating the menace. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika represents what a Government official called “a moderate face of Islam”.
The cycle of violence in Algeria began after the army staged a coup to prevent the Islamist party, FIS, from coming to power in an election that it was winning overwhelmingly. The killings by terrorist groups led to widespread state repression by the military. The Algerian regime, backed by the military, which curbed terrorists with a heavy hand, was widely criticized within and abroad for indulging in torture and other human rights abuses. There are also allegations of the armed forces being involved in certain massacres. The Algerian government denies all accusations against Bouteflika and the military, saying there is no evidence to pinpoint the armed forces in any of the massacres. It also insists that Bouteflika was elected President because over 74 per cent of the electorate voted for him. The election of President Bouteflika, who was backed by the military, was, however, controversial, with six of the seven other candidates having withdrawn from the fray on grounds of favouratism and fraud.
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