New Delhi, Apr 6 (PTI) Madagascar has become the 30th country to join the India-backed Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) that aims to help small island nations develop resilience to deal with the adverse impact of climate change.
India’s Ambassador to Madagascar Abhay Kumar welcomed the island nation’s entry into the CDRI and said it will help the country in combating natural disasters.
“I am delighted Madagascar has joined the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure. It will help Madagascar to be better prepared for the natural disasters such as cyclones it faces almost every year,” he said.
The CDRI is a global partnership that aims to promote the resilience of infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks, thereby ensuring sustainable development.
It seeks to rapidly expand the development and retrofit of resilient infrastructure to respond to sustainable development goals.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the CDRI during his address at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019 As of April, 30 members, consisting of 23 national governments and seven organisations have joined the CDRI.
Madagascar is situated off the southeast coast of Africa and is an important country for India considering its strategic interests in the Indian Ocean region.
Officials said bilateral ties between the two countries are going from strength to strength since the visit of President Ram Nath Kovind to Madagascar in 2018 Madagascar has been supportive of India’s bid for permanent membership of the UN Security Council.
An India-Madagascar Chamber of Commerce was launched last month in Antananarivo to further strengthen the trade ties between the two countries, the officials said.
According to official details, the bilateral trade between India and Madagascar was USD 363.99 million in 2021-22.
“I firmly believe that we may consider setting a goal of achieving USD 1 billion trade figures target between India and Madagascar in the next five years,” Ambassador Kumar said.
“Setting up of the India-Madagascar Chamber of Commerce will go a long way in strengthening the bilateral trade relationship between our two countries,” he was quoted as saying in a statement by the embassy.
“It will serve as a focal point for numerous Indian and Malagasy traders who would like to do business with our two countries and also those who wish to extend their markets to India or Madagascar,” he said.
Madagascar has been a beneficiary of India’s duty-free preferential tariff scheme that provides tariff preferences on products originating in that country.
The country has over 17,500 people of Indian origin, mostly from Gujarat.
India sees Madagascar not only as an important bilateral partner, but also a vital pole in the collaborative maritime vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region). PTI MPB ZMN
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