Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday was conferred with Ghana’s national honour, ‘The Officer of the Order of the Star of Ghana’, by President John Dramani Mahama, in recognition of his distinguished statesmanship and influential global leadership, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
Accepting the award, the Prime Minister said, “It is a matter of immense pride and honour for me to be conferred with Ghana’s highest honour… I express my deep gratitude to President Mahama, the Government of Ghana and the people of Ghana. I humbly accept this honour on behalf of 1.4 billion Indians.”
“I dedicate this award to the aspirations of our youth, their bright future, our rich cultural diversity and traditions and the historic ties between India and Ghana,” the PM added.
Noting that the shared democratic values and traditions of the two countries would continue to strengthen their partnership, the Prime Minister said the award further deepens the friendship between India and Ghana and places a new responsibility on him to advance bilateral ties. He expressed confidence that his historic state visit would give fresh momentum to the partnership, the MEA statement added.
Earlier, Prime Minister Modi announced that India would establish a Skill Development Centre to train youth and support Ghana’s ‘Feed Ghana’ programme, as part of a broader plan to strengthen ties between the two countries.
During a joint press briefing with President Mahama, PM Modi said India would expand cooperation with Ghana in key sectors including agriculture, education, defence, healthcare and digital payments.
“Today, we have decided to double the ITEC and ICCR scholarships for Ghana. Work will be done to establish a Skill Development Centre for the vocational education of youth,” PM Modi said.
“In the agricultural sector, we would be happy to cooperate with President Mahama’s ‘Feed Ghana’ programme. Through Jan Aushadhi Kendra, India proposes to provide affordable and reliable healthcare to the citizens of Ghana. We also discussed cooperation in vaccine production,” he added.
The Prime Minister said India plans to double trade with Ghana within the next five years and share its digital payments system, Bharat UPI, to boost financial connectivity.
President Mahama welcomed Prime Minister Modi and said the visit reflected the longstanding friendship between the two countries.
“This visit is a testament to the deep-rooted historical ties between Ghana and India, founded on the visionary leadership of Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, and India’s former Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, as well as the ever-growing bonds of friendship and cooperation that exist between our two sisterly countries for the mutual benefit of our people,” Mahama said.
This is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Ghana in over 30 years. The trip is expected to deepen the India-Ghana partnership and signal New Delhi’s continued engagement with Africa and the Global South.
(ANI)
