Nigerian President hails India-Nigeria long-standing friendship

By Trend

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the relationship with India is a long-standing friendship both politically and economically and it will continue to grow stronger, Trend reports citing The Print.

The President made these remarks during the meeting with the visiting Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Tuesday.

During the interaction, Minister Muraleedharan extended personal greetings of PM Modi to the Nigerian President, to which he reciprocated warmly. The President fondly recalled his association with India including his visit to India in 2015. It is to be noted that the President is an alumnus of Defence Service Staff College, where he did a course in 1973.

“Delighted to call-on President of Nigeria H.E. @MBuhari Conveyed greetings of PM @narendramodi Ji Pleased to listen to his fond memories of his course at Defence Service Staff College, Wellington in 1973 The relationship between both our countries is stronger today,” Muraleedharan tweeted.

The President appreciated the Minister for visiting Nigeria and mentioned that his visit has helped in identifying newer areas of cooperation and to further strengthen the bilateral relationship.

Earlier, the Minister inaugurated Nigeria-India Business Council and met the Foreign Minister and Defence Minister apart from meeting the Indian community and visiting Bharat Mandir in Abuja.

The visit of the Minister came at an opportune time when the relationship is growing at a rapid pace. The engagements of the Minister helped further consolidate the wide-ranging cooperation between the two Nations.

India and Nigeria enjoy warm, friendly and deep-rooted bilateral relations. India and Nigeria are large developing and democratic countries with multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual societies. India as the largest democracy in the world and Nigeria as the largest in Africa, become natural partners.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, both countries have maintained close contact and supported each other in their fight against the pandemic. The MoS’s visit will further the momentum of the high-level exchanges and strengthen cooperation with Nigeria, bilaterally and in the multilateral fora.