“Defence forces of India, Kenya to work together” says Kenyan President William Ruto

New Delhi [India], December 5 (ANI): Kenyan President William Ruto on Tuesday called terrorism a big issue for India and Kenya. Ruto said he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed that defence forces of India and Kenya will work together in collaboration, sharing information, experience, knowledge and intelligence to ensure that they deal with the challenge of terrorism.

While addressing a joint press meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, William Ruto said, “I confirm that India has been immensely useful to Kenya, especially in the marine space. I have thanked Prime Minister Modi for the support of India in the research and documentation of resources in the Indian Ocean that are related and relevant to Kenya. We already have maps, we already have documentation that we are going to use for our marine and blue economy exploitation in Kenya, thanks to the Government of India.”

“And we look at what we can do more to deal with piracy, to deal with terrorism, and to deal with all the other activities in our shared waters in the Indian Ocean. Terrorism is a big issue, both for Kenya and India. And we’ve agreed that our defence forces will work together in collaboration, sharing information, sharing experience, sharing knowledge and intelligence to make sure that we deal with the challenge of terrorism,” he added.

Ruto made the remarks after his meeting with PM Modi at Hyderabad House in Delhi. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for considering providing USD 250 million to support Kenya’s agricultural mechanisation. As he began his statement, William Ruto called PM Modi his “brother” and thanked him for the “excellent reception” that he and his delegation have received in India.

In his statement, William Ruto said, “I thank you, PM, for the consideration of the 250 million dollars for supporting Kenya in the space of agricultural mechanization and the whole space of vaccines and other interventions. I want to assure you that we will immediately embark on programs that have already been agreed on so that we can leverage this facility to provide much-needed services for the people of Kenya.”

“This facility is going a long way in delivering our commitment, to the people of Kenya, especially in the space of health and food security as we deal with the challenges of cost of living, ensuring that we produce enough food using mechanization to, get our food security situation dealt with,” he added.

Ruto said that he has assured PM Modi that 70 per cent of health commodities in Kenya have origin in India and appreciated the support of India. He stated that he and PM Modi held discussions on how to begin manufacturing some of these commodities in Kenya.

He said, I have also assured Prime Minister Modi that 70 per cent of health commodities in Kenya have their origin in India. And we appreciate the partnership and the support. And we have discussed how we can begin to manufacture some of these commodities in Kenya, not just for the Kenyan market, but for the East African and the African market.

“And it will be mutually beneficial for companies, Indian companies, to do this in Nairobi or to do this in Kenya because it will benefit them and we will give them access to the African market using the infrastructure that we have already built under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area,” he added.

He stated that he explained to PM Modi about the situation in East Africa and security challenges that people face in Sudan and Somalia.

“I have explained to PM Modi about our situation in, East Africa, challenges we have of security in Sudan, in Somalia, and we are going to work together to see how we can stabilize and secure that region for the mutual benefit of the people living in the Global South. I have also shared with him our experience, especially in the delivery of affordable housing and learning from the great experience in this country on delivery of affordable housing, working on slum upgrading and ensuring that citizens have decent houses and live in dignity. We are cutting out the same in Kenya following in the example of India,” William Ruto said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India and Kenya will continue to explore new opportunities to realise the full potential of economic cooperation between two nations. He stressed that India has remained a trusted and committed development partner for Kenya.

Addressing a joint press meet with Kenyan President William Ruto, Prime Minister Modi announced that India has decided to provide a line of credit of USD 250 million to Kenya for modernizing its agricultural sector.

He said, “As two agrarian economies, we agreed to share our experiences. To modernize agricultural sector of Kenya, we have also decided to provide a line of credit of USD 250 million.”

“Laying the foundation of a progressive future, today, we thought of strengthening our cooperation in all sectors and identified many new initiatives,” PM Modi said.

“We also note that mutual trade and investment between India and Kenya is making steady progress and we will continue to explore new opportunities to realize the full potential of our economic cooperation. India has been a trusted and committed development partner for Kenya. Through ITEC and ICCR scholarships, India has made a significant contribution in the skill development and capacity building of the people of Kenya,” the Prime Minister said.

Five Memorandums of Understanding were exchanged following the discussions in a number of areas, including sports, Information Technology and education.PM Modi expressed happiness over Kenyan President’s visit to India after the inclusion of African Union in the G20. He said that Ruto’s visit will give a new boost to India’s relations with Kenya and the African Union.