The Indian president, Ram Nath Kovind arrived in Banjul earlier this week on a state visit.
This is the highest ranking Indian official to visit the Gambia since the beginning of the relationship.
The Gambia and India have a very good relationship which has been described as unshakable by top diplomats.
It is in this regard that we observe the cooperation between these two nations in a wide range of issues.
India, through its banks, gives very beneficial loans to the Government of The Gambia to undertake some very important development projects. T
he building of the magnificent National Assembly in Banjul is one such project.
India also assists the Gambia in the area of agriculture and human resource development.
Many civil servants in the Cambia have benefited from such trainings in recent years.
Additionally, dozens of young Gambians go to India every year to study in various fields of human knowledge.
Many of these are usually sponsored by the Indian government to study in some of the top universities in India.
Another area in which the Gambia could greatly benefit from the friendship with India is in the tech industry.
It is a well known fact that India is a leading nation when it comes to information technology.
Another aspect of the Gambia-India relationship is the people to people relationship.
There is a large Indian community in the Gambia especially in the business sector.
The relationship in these different areas can – and should be – harnessed for the benefit of both countries and their peoples.
It is therefore expected that this visit of a high ranking Indian official will strengthen the ties between these two nations.
Such bilateral relationships are not only beneficial to the governments, but to the peoples as well.
