India, Botswana sign two deals on agriculture, education

GABORONE - India and Botswana Saturday signed two agreements on agriculture and education, with visiting Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari also expressing interest in mining in the southern African state.

The agreements were signed after talks between Ansari and his Botswana counterpart Momfati Merafhe on the first day of the visit to the country Saturday afternoon.

“The vice president did indicate an interest in mining in Botswana,” Secretary (West) in th Indian External Affairs Ministry Vivek Katju told reporters, but said that the issue of access to Batswana diamonds was not raised in the talks.

According to officials, Botswana was “appreciative” of Indias role in multilateral fora and wanted us to do more. This was the first visit by a Indian senior leader since the visit of then vice president R. Venkatraman in 1986 to attend 20th anniversary celebrations of Botsawnas independence from the Britain.