The new Indian envoy to Uganda has presented his credentials to President Yoweri Museveni
The ceremony was held on Monday at State House Entebbe on Tuesday.
Welcoming India’s new High Commissioner, Ambassador His Excellency Ravi Shankar, Museveni asked him to encourage Indian entrepreneurs to invest their capital in Kampala.
Mr. Museveni says Uganda needs investors in food processing industry especially in the fruits and grains sector and mineral(s) exploitation.
President Museveni said on Tuesday, “Shankar (Ravi) is a young diplomat whose career I have been following.
“I am glad that our relationship with India is growing despite the mistake Idi Amin made by expelling them from Uganda.
“Where I grew up from, there existed a symbiotic relationship between the locals and the four Indian families. We were farmers (cattle keepers predominantly) and they were traders. We had no problems with each other.
“However, I keep telling Ugandan-Indians who never returned home even after we took power wherever I meet them that Amin mistreated Ugandans more than he did Indians.
“My recollection puts the number of Indians killed on Amin’s orders at about three as opposed to Ugandans.
“And even before he made those mistakes, I had left for the bush only two days after he took power. So, from the onslaught, we disagreed ideologically.
To the ordinary Indian, Uganda is closely associated former President Idi Amin and his expulsion of Asians from Uganda in 1972. He accused them of aiding corruption and sabotaging the economy and about 80,000 Asians left for Britain, Canada, Australia and America in those three months; their departure led to an economic slowdown in the country.
To make it easier to do business, Uganda and India have a double taxation agreement and Uganda offers the additional attraction of full capital account convertibility for taking funds out of the country. As Museveni said, “We don’t need aid; we need market access and investment.”
