Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday visited a village in Rwanda and donated 200 cows for an economic development project of the East African nation.
“Being part of a transformative project towards economic development of Rwanda!”External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.
“PM @narendramodi donates 200 cows under #Girinka – One Cow Per Poor Family Programme at Rweru village,” Kumar stated.
“Girinka is an ambitious project that provides both nutritional and financial security to the poor.”
Girinka is a social protection scheme of the Rwandan government personally overseen by President Paul Kagame.
The poorest families are gifted dairy cows by the government and the first female calf born of the cow is gifted to the neighbour, thus promoting brotherhood and solidarity in the community.
Earlier in the day, Modi visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial that honours the memory of over one million Tutsis killed by the then Hutu majority government in 1994.
Modi reached Rwanda on Monday on the first leg of his five-day, three-nation tour of Africa that will also take him to Uganda and South Africa.
Following delegation-level talks with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, India and Rwanda signed eight agreements, including in the areas of defence, agriculture and dairy production, trade and leather and allied sectors.
Modi also announced that India will open a new High Commission in Rwanda in what can be seen as yet another manifestation of India’s increasing engagements with Africa.
India’s current High Commissioner to Rwanda has residence in Uganda.
Modi’s visit is the first ever Prime Ministerial visit from India to Rwanda.
This is also his second visit to mainland Africa after he visited Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya in 2016.
