国际英语新闻：India-Africa co-op discussed prior to Forum Summit

NEW DELHI, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers and delegates from India and 14 African countries on Monday discussed future cooperation between the two sides in New Delhi to finalize two outcome documents of the first-ever India-Africa summit which will start Tuesday.

    The two-day India-Africa Forum Summit will see the outcome of two documents, the Delhi Declaration and the Africa-India Framework for Cooperation, said Shri Pranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister of India, when addressing the Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Africa-India forum summit.

Indian Foreign Minister Parnab Mukherjee (R4) and African countries' representatives attend the Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Africa-India forum summit in New Delhi, capital of India, April 7, 2008. Foreign ministers and delegates from India and 14 African countries on Monday discussed future cooperation between the two sides to finalize two outcome documents of the first-ever India-Africa summit which will start Tuesday.

He said the Delhi Declaration will be a political document to cover issues of bilateral, regional and international interest to India and Africa, including positions on the reforms of the United Nations, climate change, WTO and international terrorism.

The Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Africa-India forum summit is held in New Delhi, capital of India, April 7, 2008. Foreign ministers and delegates from India and 14 African countries on Monday discussed future cooperation between the two sides to finalize two outcome documents of the first-ever India-Africa summit which will start Tuesday.

The Framework for Cooperation will focus the areas of multi-cooperation on human resources, institutional capacity building, education, science and technology, agricultural productivity, food security, and the development of the health sector and infrastructure, he said.

    Indian companies have made robust investments in Africa in recent years, and India's trade with Africa has increased from 5.5billion U.S. dollars in 2001-02 to over 30 billion U.S. dollars in2007-08, said Shri Anand Sharma, Minister of State for External Affairs of India at the briefing after the Foreign ministers' meeting.

    The first-ever India-Africa summit will be held in New Delhi from Tuesday to Wednesday. The two-day summit will be attended by leaders from 14 African countries. The Forum will come up with concrete proposals and outcomes so as to push forward the existing cooperation between the two sides.