The Pan Afrikanist Watchman

India established diplomatic relations with Botswana immediately after its independence in 1966 and opened resident diplomatic mission in Gaborone in 1987.  Botswana established its Mission in New Delhi in 2006. Bilateral relations with Botswana have been close and friendly, with a new thrust in mutual trust over the last few years through high level visits to each other’s countries.  Both the countries share the highest ideals of democracy and rule of law. These friendly relations attained fresh momentum owing to several recent ministerial visits from Botswana.

Visits from India

• Vice President Shri Hamid Ansari – 2010.
• Minister of Tribal Affairs Shri Jual Oram – August 2016 – 50^th anniversary of Botswana Independence celebrations (BOT- 50).
• Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu – 31 October to 02 November 2018.

Recent visits from India

• 17-member multi-product Indian business delegation from the Federation of Indian Exporters Organizations (FIEO) visited Gaborone from 28 to 30 March 2023.  The delegation included senior representatives from industry sectors such as electrical machinery, automotive spare parts, organic chemicals, wire and cables (Fiber Optics), plastic furniture, stainless steel and aluminum household articles.  The delegation held B2B meetings and visited industrial sites and supermarket chains.

• Dr. Vivek Upadhyay, Additional Commissioner, Income Tax visited Botswana from 3 to 6 April 2023 as the Expert Assessor from India for the Supplementary Peer Review of Botswana under the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.

• Mr. Rajeev Chaudhary, Group General Manager, and Mr. Pawan Kumar Singh, Dy. General Manager, RITES, along with their Botswana country Head met with Botswana Railways on 18 April 2023 to explore the possibility of customization of the state of the art rolling stock manufactured in India for export to Botswana Railways. The delegation made presentations on their products and services. The Botswana Railway also made presentation on their requirements and discussed funding needs.

• During 18th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held from December 5-8, 2023 in Kasane, ‘Garba of Gujarat’ was inscribed in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity by UNESCO, under the provisions of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of ICH on 6th December, 2023.   As part of the celebrations, Mission also organised performances by the troupe in Gaborone and Francistown on 7th and 8th December 2023.

Visits to India 

• President Mr. Festus Mogae – May 2005 and December 2006.
• Incumbent President Dr. Mokgweetsi E.K. Masisi (as Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration – June 2012 to attend Science and Technology Ministerial Conference; and as Vice President of Botswana – October 2015 to attend the Third India-Africa Forum Summit.
• Presidential Affairs and Public Administration Minister, Mr. Eric Molale – May 2016.
• Assistant Minister of Lands and Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr. Itumeleng Moipisi – 29 September – 02 October 2018 to participate in the Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention.

  Recent visits to India

• Vice President (VP) Slumber Tsogwane participated in the (virtual) 16th Edition of the CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership (13 to 15 July 2021), along with Agricultural Development and Food Security Minister, Mr. Karabo S. Gare and Health and Wellness Minister Dr. Edwin G. Dikoloti.

• Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri V. Muraleedharan and Botswana Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Lemogang Kwape held a virtual interaction on 17 June 2021 on matters of mutual interest.

• Botswana Foreign Minister Dr. Lemogang Kwape met EAM in Kevadia, Gujarat on 19 Oct 2022.  The two leaders reviewed the current state of bilateral relations between the two countries and explored ways to strengthen cooperation in areas such as health, trade and investment, defence, economic cooperation, training and capacity building, among others. Regional and international issues of mutual concern, including cooperation in multilateral fora were also discussed. Botswana Foreign Minister also met with Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Hon. Narendra Singh Tomar, and representatives of the health sector, including the pharmaceutical industry in New Delhi.

• Minister of Defence & Security, Mr. Thomas Kagiso Mmusi attended Interpol General Assembly held in New Delhi from 18 to 21 October 2022;

• Botswana Defence Forces (BDF) Commander Placid Diratsagae Segokgo and five other senior Ministry of Defence and BDF officers attended the DefExpo held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat from 18-22 October 2022.

• A two member Botswana delegation headed by Ms. Nnaniki Wilhemina Tebogo Makwinja, Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development visited India from 23 to 25 Nov 2022 to attend the UNESCO-India-Africa Hackathon in which 20 students/experts from Botswana also took part and some of these students/experts were declared winners.

• A 20 member Botswana delegation including Permanent Secretary to the President, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Minerals & Energy and Attorney General of Botswana visited Mumbai (23-24 Nov 2022) and Surat (25-27 Nov 2022) for site seeing at the diamond manufacturing value chain and operations of Diamond Special Economic Zones to understand the Diamond industry in India. During the visit, the delegation also visited facilities of Jindal energy who has been selected as the preferred bidder to build a 300 MW coal-fired power plant in Botswana. 

• Dr. Edwin G. Dikoloti, Minister of Health led a five member delegation and visited Ahmedabad and New Delhi from 28 Nov to 1 Dec 2022 for negotiations/discussions with the medical suppliers in India.

• Mr. Macdonald Tumiso Rakgare, Minister of Youth, Gender, Sports and Culture, along with Ms. Bogolo Kenewendo, a former Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry and Mr. Simon Nikosana Moabi, Member of Parliament attended the Gen Next Democracy Network Programme 2023 organised by the ICCR from 22 to 31 January 2023.

• Minister of Mineral and Energy Mr. Lefoko Moagi visited Mumbai and Delhi from 17 to 25 April 2023.  In Mumbai he met with diamond cutting and polishing industry, and in Delhi visited Jindal Energy Power and Steel Plants.

• A 15 member Botswana Women’s cricket team visited Bangalore from 2-14, November, 2023.  The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) hosted the Botswana team and helped them in preparing well for their upcoming ICC group matches.  With the aid of latest technological tools and under the mentorship of experts in the game, the team was assisted.  The High Commission of India in partnership with the Botswana Cricket Association and the KSCA facilitated the visit.
• Minister of Education and Skills Development, Dr. Douglas Letsholathebe, participated in the 2^nd Virtual Voice of Global South Summit (VOGSS 2.0) held in New Delhi on 17^th November, 2023. He attended the Virtual Education Ministers’ session chaired by Sh. Dharmendra Pradhan.

• Two senior journalists from Botswana, Mr. Isaac Pheko, Copy Editor, Botswana Guardian/Midweek Sun and Mr. Ditiro Motlhabane, Editor, The Patriot on Sunday visited India from 09 to 16 December, 2023 as part of the familiarization visit organized by the XPD Division, MEA.

• A 14 member delegation from Botswana Scouts Association is currently on a visit to India to participate in the Youth Exchange Programme scheduled to be held from 16 –29 Jan 2024 during the Republic Day Camp.

• A 20-member team comprising culture troupe of 16 members, two artisans and two art buyers from Botswana are set to participate in the 37^th edition of Surajkund International Crafts Mela – 2024 at Surajkund, Faridabad, Haryana from 02-18 February, 2024.

Bilateral Mechanisms

• There are bilateral mechanisms between the two countries including Foreign Office Consultations, Joint Ministerial Committee Meeting (JMC) and MOUs/agreements including on visa, culture, trade, double taxation, agriculture, education, science & Technology, etc. The fourth Foreign Office Consultation were held in Gaborone on 14 December 2023.

Capacity Building

• India’s assistance and cooperation with Botswana in institutional capacity building has been a strong pillar in our bilateral relations.  Under this bilateral cooperation, since the last eight years, close to 1200 Botswana candidates have been awarded scholarships / trained under ITEC/ IAFS/ ICCR, Agriculture scholarships, etc. 

Trade & Commerce

• The major exports to India are rough diamonds and major imports from India to Botswana are also dominated by diamonds, with small volumes/value in manufactured goods, machinery, generic drugs etc. Opportunities lie for Indian businesses in the field of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, tires, agriculture equipment, education, infrastructure projects, entertainment industry, digital world, banking sector and medical tourism.

         Import-export: Import-export: Figures in US$ million (Source: Dept. of Commerce, GOI):

India’s total exports to Botswana:	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24 (Apr- Sep)
Including pharmaceuticals, machineries, iron & steel, electrical equipment,  precious stones varieties of diamonds, related jewellery etc.	108.58	178.31	178.74	172.69	278.87	171.27	55.88
India’s total imports from Botswana:	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24 (Apr- Sep)
Including varieties of diamonds, semi-precious stones, copper, ores, ash etc.	1638.29	974.48	744.00	461.72	527.96	459.97	200.90
Total Trade	1746.87	1152.79	922.74	634.41	806.83	631.24	256.70

• Indian companies in various sectors including engineering & machinery, IT, manufacturing, trade, spinning and textile machinery, agriculture & food processing, gems and jewelry have been participating in the Annual Global Expo of Botswana (GEB), the largest local trade event. Indian Companies like TCS, RITES have their offices in Gaborone while Indian majors TATA Motors and Mahindra have their presence through franchises. Bank of Baroda with four branches has been operating in Botswana since 2001.

• Botswana Power Corporation and India’s Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. on 25 July 2023 signed an initial power purchase agreement for 30 years from the 300 MW greenfield coal-fired power plant project which is expected to be completed by 2028 by Jindal under the contract secured in November 2022 to design, build, finance and maintain the plant. The Botswana Cabinet has approved to add another 300 MW to this greenfield project. On 6^th October,   2023, ground breaking ceremony of the power plant took place.  Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. is investing US Dollars 2 billion on this project.

Donation of COVISHIELD and Anti-Tuberculosis Drugs

• India donated 30,000 doses of COVISHIELD vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India in March 2021.  This was the first consignment of COVID19 vaccines in Botswana. India also donated anti-tuberculosis drugs to the Government of Botswana in 2022.

Indian Diaspora

• Indian Diaspora (approx. 12,000 Indian nationals and PIOs) contributes significantly to Botswana’s economy and form a prosperous segment of the society. They are engaged in service and retail sectors viz. teaching, accounting, insurance and finance, medicine and pharmaceuticals. Indian Origin Diaspora also owns several grocery stores, supermarket chains and has presence in hospitality, construction and hospital industry. Out of 45 diamond cutting and polishing businesses, majority of them have been established by the Indian diamond companies as part of their multinational operations. These companies have generated employment opportunities and imparted training skills (diamond cutting and polishing) to local Batswana.