Zambia and India have signed six agreements to strengthen cooperation in the areas of arts and culture, e-learning, election administration, defence, diplomacy and mining, APA learnt here on Wednesday.
The memoranda of understanding were signed on Wednesday during the state visit to India by Zambian President Edgar Lungu.
Among the agreements was a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cooperation in the field of Geology and Mineral Resources, an MOU on Cooperation in the field of Defence, and an MOU on Cooperation in the field of Arts and Culture.
Other pacts included an MOU between Foreign Service Institute of India and Zambian Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies, an MOU on the EVBAB Network Project, and an MOU between the Election Commission of India and Electoral Commission of Zambia.
The EVBAB Network Project is a technological project that helps impact tele-education and tele-medicine by linking educational institutions and hospitals in India with those from the participating African countries.
The agreements were signed by a number of Zambian ministers and their Indian counterparts during a ceremony in New Delhi, which was attended by Lungu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking after the signing ceremony, Lungu said the people of Zambia are grateful for support received by India over years.
“My visit here has started bearing fruits, we’ve witnessed signing of agreements in fields of defence, education, medicine, art and culture, elections as well as between our two diplomatic training institutes.”
Modi praised the long-standing relationship between India and Zambia, saying it “is older than the independence of Zambia.”
“We believe in the same democratic values and the joint ambitions for development connect the two countries.”
Lungu is on a three-day state visit that ends on Thursday.
JN/APA