The two leaders captured under the portrait of global political leadership icon Mahatma Gandhi
* Mahatma Gandhi is a very important access road from Masauko Chipembere Highway past junction all the way to the road to the M1 Road at Catholic Institute (CI)
* Along it, the road connects to Queens Hospital; Blantyre Central Business District (CBD) through Mandala Road; to KUHeS
* And to residential areas of Soche Township — Naperi, Chitawira, Nkolokosa, Zingwangwa, Chilobwe and all the way to Soche Hill
* Thus the planned expansion of Mahatma Gandhi is earmarked to alleviate traffic congestion within the City
By Duncan Mlanjira
At a meeting with Blantyre City Mayor, His Worship Councillor Isaac Jomo Osman, the High Commissioner of India to Malawi, Amararam Gujar pledged to support, among other initiatives, the expansion of Blantyre City’s Mahatma Gandhi Road into a dual-carriageway.
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Accompanied by Blantyre City Council management led by Chief Executive Officer, Dennis Chinseu, the meeting was described as productive as discussions were centered on transformative urban upgrades.
Mahatma Gandhi is a very important access road from Masauko Chipembere Highway past junction all the way to the road to the M1 Road at Catholic Institute (CI) — thus it connects into road to Stella Maris Secondary School all the way to Mpemba and to Chikwawa District.
Along it from Masauko Chipembere Highway, Mahatma Gandhi Road connects to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital; Blantyre Central Business District (CBD) through Mandala Road; to Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) and to residential areas of Soche Township — Naperi, Chitawira, Nkolokosa, Zingwangwa, Chilobwe and all the way to Soche Hill.
KuhES along Mahatma Gandhi Road
Thus the planned expansion of Mahatma Gandhi is earmarked to alleviate traffic congestion within the City and beyond infrastructure, Mayor Jomo Osman and the High Commissioner “explored avenues for cultural exchange, environmental sustainability, and the potential for Indian investors to establish a new hospital in Blantyre”.
“Both parties reaffirmed their commitment to a strategic partnership aimed at improving the lives of residents in both nations,” says the statement from Blantyre City Council.
On its official Facebook page, the office of the High Commissioner added that the meeting was focussed on exploring the possibility of collaboration to further bolster cultural and people-to-people ties between India and Malawi.
On Tuesday last week, His Excellency Gujar paid a courtesy visit to Minister of Natural Resources, Energy & Mining, Jean Mathanga MP, whose meeting centred on how the two countries can further deepen India-Malawi bilateral relations.
Malawi Government official Facebook page reported that the High Commissioner, who was accompanied by the Political Officer, Ashwini Chaturvedi, discussed with Minister Mathanga areas of mutual interest and opportunities for collaboration in potential sectors, including solar energy, mining, and education scholarships, among others.
“Given the importance of this Ministry, it is good that we should collaborate. We reaffirmed that the long-standing and growing partnership spans across multiple sectors,” he is quoted as saying.
The Minister emphasised that Malawi and India share strong, historical ties since independence in 1964, adding that the two countries have enjoyed cordial and friendly as they hold identical views on many regional, international and multilateral issues.
“I am happy that India has shown a strong interest in helping us in the renewable energy and mining areas,” she said. “India provides financial grants, technical expertise, capacity building, and facilitates investment to help Malawi develop its mining and energy sectors.
In partnership with University of Malawi (UNIMA), the Indian High Commission organised ‘India Dialogue’ in Zomba on December 16, which focused on India’s growing strategic role in the Global South including Africa, its economic transformation path to become developed nation by 2047 through unleashing its full potential.
The office of the High Commission reported that the witnessed the enthusiastic participation of scholars, academia, think-tanks, senior government officials, industry experts and UNIMA students & faculty.
High Commissioner Gujar was joined by key figures include that included Secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Bright Molande; UNIMA Vice-Chancellor, Prof Samson Sajidu; Zomba Mayor, his Mayor and CEO.
The High Commissioner reportedly highlighted India as a crucial and reliable partner for Global South in their quest to boost sustainable development and economic growth while the Ministry’s Secretary Molande underscored India-Malawi’s “time-tested partnership”.
Vice-Chancellor Prof Sajidu emphasised on India’s emergence as key player in international order and a leader in Global South and also present as key note speaker was Dr T. Molokwane from South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal University — who underscored the historic relations between India and Malawi.
He outlined complementaries and synergies between India@2047 and Malawi@2063 for their shared vision to become developed nation by 2047 and upper middle-income country by 2063 respectively.
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