Important Facts For Prelims
India-Kenya Ties
- 04 Feb 2023
- 3 min read
Why in News?
India recently handed over 100 nautical charts to Kenya, the result of a collaborative survey between the navies of both countries of the coastal area near the Lamu Archipelago.
- From India, the survey was conducted by the Indian Navy's National Hydrography Office.
What are the Key Points Related to Kenya?
- Kenya is located in East Africa. Its terrain rises from a low coastal plain on the Indian Ocean to mountains and plateaus at its centre.
- Kenya's location between the Indian Ocean and Lake Victoria means that people from all over Africa and the Middle East have travelled and traded across it for centuries.
- This has created a diverse culture with many ethnic groups and languages.
- Scientists think Northern Kenya and Tanzania may have been the original birthplace of humans.
- The bones of one of the earliest human ancestors ever found were discovered in Kenya's Turkana Basin.
- Lake Turkana, the world's largest desert lake, is part of the Omo-Turkana basin, which stretches into four countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda.
- UN-Habitat maintains its headquarters at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya.
How are India’s Relations with Kenya?
- India and Kenya have historical linkages rooted in the well-documented trade in spices.
- In addition to being India’s maritime neighbour, it is also a significant stakeholder in determining the geopolitics of the Western Indian Ocean.
- India has a long-established connection with the African Union of which Kenya is an active member.
- The Kenyan government in 2017, recognized the Indian descent as the 44th tribe in the country.
- Also, till date, a total of 14 Kenyan personnel has undergone courses at the National Institute of Hydrography, Goa under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) scheme.
What is the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme?
- ITEC is the leading capacity building platform of the Ministry Of External Affairs, Government of India.
- Instituted in 1964, ITEC is one of the oldest institutionalised arrangements for international capacity building having trained more than 200,000 officials from 160+ countries in both the civilian and in the defence sector.
- EC offers nearly 10,000 fully-funded in-person training opportunities through nearly 400 courses offered at 100+ eminent institutes in India each year.
