Jaishankar Meets Cote d'Ivoire Leaders, Discusses Defence and Wider Bilateral Cooperation

During his meeting with Ouattara, Jaishankar discussed the growing defence partnership between India and Cote d'Ivoire, with both sides exploring opportunities for greater cooperation through training, capacity building and institutional exchanges.

Jaishankar arrived in Cote d'Ivoire on Wednesday after concluding his visit to Ghana. He also met Foreign and International Cooperation Minister Niale Kaba to discuss strengthening the broader bilateral partnership.

The talks covered several areas, including trade, investment, infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare and people-to-people relations. Jaishankar said India's people-centric cooperation with Côte d'Ivoire would continue to be guided by the country's priorities. The two sides also discussed strengthening their engagement through multilateral platforms.

During his visit, Jaishankar interacted with alumni of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, India's flagship bilateral capacity-building initiative administered by the Ministry of External Affairs.

The ITEC programme works with more than 160 countries across Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Pacific and small island nations. Jaishankar highlighted India's capacity-building efforts and their role in meeting partner countries' needs while fostering people-to-people links.

Côte d'Ivoire's Minister of National Education, Literacy and Technical Education Koffi N'Guessan, a former ITEC participant, also joined the interaction.

India and Cote d'Ivoire have also been exploring greater cooperation in skill development, vocational and technical education, knowledge sharing and capacity building.

Earlier this week, India's Ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire Ramesh Babu Lakshmanan met N'Guessan to discuss opportunities to deepen collaboration in education and human resource development. The discussions also covered other areas of mutual interest, with both sides reaffirming their commitment to expanding bilateral cooperation.