Rwanda President Paul Kagame held talks with his Central African Republic (CAR)) counterpart Faustin Archange Touadéra who is in Kigali on a working visit, according to a statement issued on Thursday.
The Central African Republic leader last visited Rwanda more than a year ago, in August 2021, on a three-day state visit. President Touadéra and President Kagame held talks at Urugwiro Village late Wednesday evening, mainly focusing on security and the political situation in his country, among other things, the statement issued by the President’s Office in Kigali said.
“President Kagame met with President Touadéra of the Central African Republic who is in Rwanda for a working visit. The heads of state discussed the political situation in CAR & ongoing bilateral cooperation in various areas including security, governance and economic development.” the statement added.
During his last visit, President Touadéra expressed his gratitude and that of the people of the Central African Republic to the people of Rwanda for their technical and operational support to the Central African Armed Forces.
The two leaders committed to intensifying bilateral ties, and agreed to promote trade, financial, cultural and technical cooperation.
Rwanda and CAR have signed different agreements in the areas of economic planning, mining, security sector reforms and cooperation in transport, among other sectors.
Rwanda is one of the troop contributing countries to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).
The East African country deployed its latest contingent of peacekeepers comprising 750 troops to CAR on Tuesday.
In 2020, Rwanda also deployed what it called “force protection troops” to the Central African Republic under a bilateral agreement on defense.
CU/as/APA