Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh presents his letter of credence to the President of India

H.E Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, High Commissioner of Ghana to India, on Monday, 13th December, 2021, presented to the President of the Republic of India, H.E. Ram Nath Kovind, the letter by which H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana appointed him as Ghana High Commissioner to India and the recall letter of my Predecessor, Ambassador Michael N.N. Oquaye Jnr. He was accompanied by Staff of the Mission.

In a Tet-A-Tet with the President of India, H.E. Asomah-Cheremeh extended warm greetings from the President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to the President, His Excellency Ram Nath Kovind. He explained that Ghana and India share a strong bond of friendship, which date back to the early 1950s when Ghana’s first President Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah struck a strong bond of friendship with India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He further mentioned that there have been high level visits between the two countries at Heads of State and other levels, a testament to the cordial bilateral relations.


On Technical and Cultural relations, He expressed appreciation to India for the various assistance to Ghana, including the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) and the India Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarships to Ghana students to study in India.



In the area of trade and investment, He noted that India was among the top five trading partners of Ghana and one of the largest destination for Ghanaian exports, particularly gold, which accounts for nearly 80% of total imports from Ghana to India. He reemphasized his readiness to work to strengthen further the trade relations between the two countries.



Turning to development assistance, he expressed the appreciation of the Government of Ghana for the Lines of Credit extended to Ghana towards infrastructural development - Jubilee House, Tema to Akosombo Railway Line Agricultural Mechanization across the entire country, upgrading of Yendi Water Systems, Solarization of Airports in Ghana.



On Government priority policies and programmes, he opined that the numerous bright policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi such as Make in India, Start-up India, stand –up India, digital India et cetera resonate with Government of Ghana’s initiatives such as One District-One-Factory, Planting for Food and Jobs, Value Addition, Skills training Initiatives, One –Village-One-Dam and economic transformation. He assured the President that Ghana was ready to work with India to make these policies a reality.



Turning to multilateral cooperation, he mentioned that the two countries have been working closely on issues of mutual interest and expressed satisfaction that with Ghana taking its seat at the UN Security Council from January 2022 as a non-permanent member, the two countries will work together to address challenges of global peace and stability, including terrorism in all its forms and manifestation and the maintenance of international peace and security.



He expressed the gratitude of the Government of Ghana to India for providing 650,000 Covid–19 vaccines to combat the Pandemic at a time when the country was at its wits end, through multilateral and bilateral arrangements.



He also expressed condolences to the President, the Government and people of India for the loss of 13 personnel of the Indian Armed Forces including General Bipin Rawat, the Chief of Defense Staff and his wife through a helicopter crash on Wednesday, 8 December, 2021.



In conclusion, President Ram Nath Kovind expressed warm greetings through me to H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo President of the Republic of Ghana.