New Delhi, India: April 8, 2008: The first summit between India and Africa has begun here today.  Its main purpose is to strengthen trade and diplomatic ties between India and Africa. India is more interested in Africa, since it pins its high hopes to tap energy over there and also wants China to use its good offices for better results. 

India is also said to be trying to counter the influence of China, which is building ties with African countries that are traditionally close to India.

The two-day summit will be attended by 14 African leaders, which include Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Ethiopia's Meles Zenawi.

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says India will pitch to gain access to Africa's natural resources - particularly energy- in return for increased aid and low-cost solutions to battle poverty.

 "We do not need to discover Africa - our ties are historic," said India's junior foreign minister Anand Sharma ahead of the summit.
India has traded with Africa for centuries. It has strongly supported independence movements in several African nations and Mahatma Gandhi's famous civil disobedience movement against British colonial rule began in South Africa.

Now it wants to cash in on the goodwill.

Although trade between India and Africa has increased to $30bn a year, it is still almost half that of China's.

Recently, Delhi has lost a number of lucrative oil exploration contracts in Africa to Beijing.

The BBC's world affairs correspondent Nick Childs says in holding the summit India appears to be following China - two years ago, Beijing hosted a ground-breaking Africa summit, a signal of its growing interest in the continent.
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