'India-Namibia Ties Just Warming Up, Will Score More Together': PM Modi In Historic Address At Namibian Parliament (VIDEO)

Windhoek: Using cricketing analogy to underscore the vast potential for growth in India-Namibia bilateral ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that both countries are only "warming up" and will "score faster, score more" in the years to come.

Addressing the Joint Session of the Parliament of Namibia in Windhoek during his one-day State Visit to the African nation, PM Modi said that both countries are part of the Global South and have people sharing similar hopes and dreams.

"Our bilateral trade has crossed $800 million, but like on the cricket field, we are just warming up! We will score faster and score more! We are honoured to support Namibia's youth through the Entrepreneurship Development Centre. It will be a place where business dreams can get mentorship, funding and friends, too," said PM Modi.

PM Modi began his address by mentioning that he stands before the Namibian lawmakers as "a representative of the Mother of Democracy", bringing with him the warm greetings from 1.4 billion people of India.

Highlighting that India and Namibia share strong democratic ideals and values, he also recalled the legacy of Dr. Sam Nujoma, the founding father of Namibia, stating that at the heart of this historic relationship are the people of the two countries.

Charting the goal for future of the India-Namibia partnership, PM Modi emphasised that India will walk hand-in-hand with Namibia and in solidarity with the Global South. He stated that India and Namibia have much in common with both countries having fought colonial rule.

"We not only value our ties from the past, but we are also focused on realising the potential of our shared future. We see great value in working together on Namibia's Vision 2030. And, at the heart of our partnership are our people. Over 1700 Namibians have benefited from scholarship and capacity-building programmes in India," he mentioned.

Both countries, he said, value dignity and freedom with the constitution guiding them to uphold equality, liberty and justice.

"It's the power of India's Constitution that a daughter from a poor tribal family is today the President of India. It's this very Constitution that gave someone like me the chance to become Prime Minister. Not once, not twice, but three times. When you have nothing, the Constitution gives you everything!" he said.

India, said PM Modi in his address, is not only progressing with its own development but also giving direction to the dreams of the world, with a special emphasis on the Global South.

"This is India's message: that you can achieve success by following your own path, with your culture and dignity intact," stated PM Modi.

He highlighted that Namibia is the first country to adopt India's UPI and soon, people of the African country will be able to send money faster than one can say "Tangi unene", or thank you very much.

"India is ready to supply Namibia with a Bhabhatron radiotherapy machine for advanced cancer care. This machine, developed in India, has been deployed in 15 countries and has helped half a million patients in different countries with critical cancer care.

"Our development partnership in Africa is worth over $12 billion. But its real value is in shared growth and shared purpose. We continue to build local skills, create local jobs and support local innovations. We also invite Namibia to join the Jan Aushadhi programme for access to affordable and quality medicines. Under this programme, the costs of medicines in India have been brought down by 50-80 per cent. It's helping more than one million Indians daily. So far, it has helped patients save nearly USD 4.5 billion in healthcare costs," said PM Modi.

As he began to address the Parliament, PM Modi received a standing ovation from lawmakers and chants of 'Modi, Modi' also reverberated in the air.

This was PM Modi's third address to a Parliament in a week.

On July 3, ​Prime Minister Modi addressed a special session of the Parliament of Ghana, becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to do so.

A day later, on July 4, PM Modi, at the invitation of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House, addressed the Joint Assembly of the Parliament of Trinidad & Tobago (T&T). He was the first Prime Minister from India to address the T&T Parliament, and the occasion marked a milestone in India-Trinidad & Tobago bilateral relations.

Earlier, following their discussions on further strengthening bilateral ties, Prime Minister Modi and Namibia President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah witnessed the exchange of two Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) in the fields of health and entrepreneurship, in Windhoek.

The MoU on setting up of an Entrepreneurship Development Centre in Namibia and another on Cooperation in the field of Health and Medicine came on the occasion of PM Modi's one-day State Visit to Namibia, the first at the level of Prime Minister after 27 years.

In addition, it was announced that Namibia has joined the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and Global Biofuels Alliance.

The African nation is also the first country to enter into a licensing agreement to adopt UPI technology with the announcement on launching of Digital Payments system in Namibia later this year being an outcome of the signing of the UPI technology licensing agreement between NPCI and Bank of Namibia in April 2024.

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