Morocco-India relations

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This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.

2017/ In the African Union

Impact on India

Rudroneel Ghosh, India in Africa: Morocco's return to the African Union is also a diplomatic victory for New Delhi, Feb 11, 2017: The Times of India  

In what can be described as a diplomatic victory that New Delhi can quietly take some credit for, the African Union (AU) last week readmitted Morocco into its fold.It will be recalled that Morocco was the only African country that wasn't part of AU. It had chosen to withdraw from the pan-African body in 1984 after the latter had recognised the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as a full member.The SADR is the product of a long-running separatist movement regarding the territory of the Moroccan Sahara ­ over which Morocco exercises full sovereign authority today . The Moroccan Sahara was earlier a Spanish colonial exclave ­ rest of Morocco itself was under the French till 1956.

However, in 1975 the Moroccan Sahara was divided between Morocco and Mauritania under the Madrid Accords.Mauritania latter relinquished its claims to the territory in 1979. But since 1975, a separatist group called the Polisario Front ­ backed primarily by Algeria ­ has carried out an armed struggle for independence of the Moroccan Sahara. In 1991, a ceasefire was brokered between Morocco and Polisario allowing for the establishment of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara.

But the terms of the referendum were never fulfilled. In fact, the Polisario Sahrawi camps in Tindouf in western Algeria never permitted a proper census of refugees. As things stand today , Morocco has offered a high degree of autonomy to its Sahara provinces as a solution to this long festering issue. And to bolster its proposal, it has undertaken a slew of development projects in the Sahara.

Despite all this, the Moroccan Sahara-SADR issue has continued to weigh down AU as a colonial baggage, preventing African unity . It's in this context that Morocco's return to AU needs to be seen. That 39 African nations voted in support of Morocco's return to the pan-African body shows the direction in which majority of AU's members want the organisation to proceed. But interestingly this process had actually received a big push in India in 2015. The Third India-Africa Forum Summit held in New Delhi in October of that year saw the Indian government invite all African nations, including Morocco ­ SADR wasn't invited as India has suspended diplomatic recognition of this entity .

In fact, that Summit had seen an intense debate about the inclusion of the term `colonialism' in the final draft of the Delhi Declaration in view of the Moroccan Sahara-SADR issue. But thanks to the intervention of Indian interlocutors, consensual language was found to Morocco's satisfaction.The Summit and Morocco's participation in it set the ball rolling for Morocco's eventual return to AU.

This is welcome on several fronts. First, Africa today has all that is needed to emerge as the next global growth hub ­ abundant natural resources, a growing middle class, and improving governance structures. However, it continues to be plagued by intra-continental politics and legacy issues.These need to be set aside in favour of greater continental unity to pool resources and boost intra-regional trade. In that sense, Morocco's return to AU once again makes the African institutional family whole and pushes the case for greater continental cooperation.

Second, Morocco's return to AU will only be an asset to the pan-African body . Not only is Morocco a top African economy, it's also at the forefront of championing South-South cooperation in areas such as agriculture, education, healthcare, environment protection, etc. Plus, Morocco has been fighting the scourge of Islamist extremism through intelligence and security cooperation with sister African nations and European partners. It even has an ideological dimension to its counter-terror efforts in the form of a programme that trains foreign imams in moderate Islamic tenets.

Lastly, Africa needs to go beyond its colonial hangover and learn to stand on its own feet.Hitherto Africa was only united on paper. Hopefully , Morocco's return to AU will see Africa united in purpose and practice.As far as India is concerned, Morocco's return to AU gives New Delhi a strong ally in Africa ­ especially in Francophone Africa ­ that is willing to open up new opportunities for trade and investments. That's certainly a big win for the Narendra Modi government.