Democracy, common denominator for our collective development

Accra, Feb. 5, GNA - Mr. Paul Ayene, the Supervising Director of Political and Cultural Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has commended the Republic of India for the remarkable progress she has made over the past decades which has made her one of the fast growing economies in the world.

He said the growth of the economy of India today was largely due her impressive democratic credentials. In an interview with GNA at the 60th Republic Day of India anniversary, Mr Ayene said democracy had become a major common denominator in the collective desire to pool resources for the improvement of the standard of living of the peoples of Ghana and India. Mr Ayene noted that some of the benefits Ghana had derived from her relationship with India were the concessionary loan granted for the construction of the presidential complex, rural electrification projects, assistance for the establishment of the Kofi Annan International Centre of Excellence in ICT; and assistance towards the establishment of the proposed Ghana Foreign Service Institute.

He expressed gratitude to the India government for launching the Team-9 Initiative in March, 2004 and the Pan-African Network Project in October, 2005. While the Team-9 Initiative is a more specific and targeted approach for economic, technological and scientific cooperation, the Pan-African Network Project seeks to connect all the 53 African countries of the African Union by a satellite and fibre optic network tele-medicine, tele-education and VVIP connectivity. Mr Ayene urged the international community to intensify its efforts in the fight against terrorism, since it threatened the mutual desire to develop the respective countries in an astrosphere of peace and tranquillity. He said had Ghana demonstrated her commitment in that regard by condemning the recent attack on India that killed innocent civilians and destroyed strategic public facilities.