New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a two day state visit to Republic of Rwanda from Monday, July 23 and among other agenda will participate in a local event on "Girinka -one cow per family" and gift 200 cows as a contribution from India. "An important element of the Prime Minister's program would be the visit to Rweru model village for gifting of 200 cows as a contribution from India to the Girinka scheme of Rwanda. Girinka is a social protection scheme of the Rwandan Government personally overseen by President Paul Kagame," TS Tirumurti, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs said here on Friday. "The poorest families are gifted dairy cows by the Government (of Rwanda) and the first female calf born of the cow is gifted to the neighbor, thus promoting brotherhood and solidarity in the community," he said. The government of India also expects that agreements will be inked in the areas of defence, dairy cooperation, leather, agriculture and culture. Prime Minister will also visit Republic of Uganda and Republic of South Africa from July 25 to 27. "Over the last few years, there has been a significant intensification of India's engagement in various fields with African countries and there have been as many as 23 outgoing visits to Africa at the level of President, Vice President and Prime Minister in the last four years," an MEA statement said. "Africa has been the top priority of India’s Foreign Policy. The visit of Prime Minister to Rwanda, Uganda and South Africa will further strengthen our relations with the African continent," it said. This will be the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Rwanda and the first visit to Uganda in over 20 years. The visit to South Africa is in the context of BRICS Summit. In Rwanda, Prime Minister will visit the Genocide Memorial also. Prime Minister’s official engagement in Rwanda and Uganda include bilateral meetings with the Presidents, delegation level talks and meetings with the business and the Indian communities. In South Africa, apart from participating in the BRICS Summit, Prime Minister Modi will have a bilateral meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa. This will be the first visit by the Prime Minister to South Africa after new administration led by President Ramaphosa assumed office in February 2018. "The year 2018 is a very significant year in that it marks the 125th anniversary of the Pietermaritzburg incident of Mahatma Gandhi and 100th birth anniversary of Nelson Mandela," a senior MEA official said. (UNI)
