New Kerela
Morocco’s King Mohammad VI on Thursday said he admired India’s balanced and responsible foreign policy and expressed his country’s readiness to set up a joint working group to ensure coordination and information sharing between India and African countries in the field of security and anti-terrorism.
“Given the mix of development challenges and unprecedented terrorist threats they face, the member countries of this Forum should adopt a comprehensive approach rooted in close cooperation with India,” said the king who has taken some firm steps to preserve his country’s security and stability in the face of growing extremism and spread of jihadist ideology in North Africa and parts of the Arab world.
“I admire the way India has crafted its pioneering development model which has enabled this country to become one the emerging global powers,” Mohammad VI said while addressing the third India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS).
“This makes India’s ambition to play a key role within UN agencies in charge of global peace and security all the more legitimate,” he said.
He said India’s main asset is its “balanced, responsible foreign policy based on respect for international legitimacy and for the territorial integrity of states, as well as on the defence of developing countries’ interests and just causes”.
He expressed his appreciation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi “for making sure this Forum Summit is different from previous ones in terms of its objectives and general orientation as well as the nature of its recommendations and follow-up measures”.
“He has seen to it the Forum will be a success and has made sure it has the means needed to be an effective model of cooperation between our countries,” the king stated.
He said the IAFS should serve as a platform to lay the foundations for an efficient, solidarity-based, multidimensional South-South cooperation model through which they can make optimal use of the resources and potential available in their countries.
“Morocco looks forward to launching joint initiatives with India, within the framework of this Forum, in areas which are a priority for our peoples and in which our two countries have gained extensive expertise,” he said.
