India, Ghana hold consultations on UN, multilateral issues in Accra

India and Ghana held consultations on UN and Multilateral issues level in Accra on June 9 and discussed issues on the agenda of the UNSC, including on West Africa and Sahel region, and other issues related to counter-terrorism and UN Peacekeeping.

"India and Ghana, present members of UN Security Council, held Consultations in Accra on UN & Multilateral issues; Indian delegation also called on Dy Foreign Minister to discuss issues of mutual importance," the Indian mission in Ghana tweeted.

Prakash Gupta, Joint Secretary (UN-Political) led the Indian delegation, which included senior officials from the High Commission of India in Accra and the Ministry of External Affairs.

The Ghanaian delegation was led by Ambassador Ramses Cleland, Acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of the Republic of Ghana and included other senior officials from Ghanaian MFA.

"Both sides reviewed their ongoing cooperation during their current tenure as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council and reaffirmed their commitment to work closely together in the UNSC and other multilateral fora. They discussed issues on the agenda of the UNSC, including on West Africa and Sahel region, and other thematic issues related to counter-terrorism and UN Peacekeeping," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

"In keeping with their close and friendly relations, both sides agreed to deepen their engagement at the other multilateral fora, including at the NAM, Commonwealth and G77 groupings," the statement added.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India's relationship with Ghana continued to prosper despite the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID pandemic.

The 2nd FOC held in July last year in Accra co-chaired by Secretary (ER) and Ghanaian Deputy Foreign Minister, Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong which gave further impetus to the existing relations and an important opportunity to revisit many areas of cooperation and discuss new areas to strengthen the relations further.

India supported Ghana in the fight against COVID by giving 50,000 Covishield vaccines as a grant and also supplied 6,00,000 'Made in India' vaccines under Covax initiative.

Ghana supported India's candidacy for various elections in international organisations.

Bilateral trade continued to grow despite the pandemic disruption and recorded USD 1,377.26 million for the period April-September 2021.