India And Ghana: Narendra Modi's Visit Rekindles Historical Ties

2025-07-03 02:01:38

(MENAFN- Asia Times) Narendra Modi's trip to Ghana in July 2025, part of a five-nation visit, is the first by an Indian prime minister in over 30 years . The two countries' relationship goes back more than half a century to when India helped the newly independent Ghana set up its intelligence agencies. Ghana is also home to several large Indian-owned manufacturing and trading companies. International relations scholar Pius Siakwah unpacks the context of the visit.

What is the background to Ghana and India's relationship?

It can be traced to links between Kwame Nkrumah , Ghana's first president, and his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru , in 1957. It is not surprising that the Indian High Commission is situated near the seat of the Ghana government, Jubilee House.

Nkrumah and Nehru were co-founders of the Non-Aligned Movement , a group of states not formally aligned with major power blocs during the cold war. Its principles focused on respect for sovereignty, neutrality, non-interference, and peaceful dispute resolution. It was also a strong voice against the neo-colonial ambitions of some of the large powers.

The movement emerged in the wave of decolonization after the Second World War. It held its first conference in 1961 under the leadership of Josip Bros Tito (Yugoslavia), Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt) and Sukarno (Indonesia) as well as Nehru and Nkrumah.

The relationship between Ghana and India seemingly went into decline after the overthrow of Nkrumah in 1966, coinciding with the decline of Indian presence in global geopolitics.

In 2002, President John Kufuor re-energised India-Ghana relations. This led to the Indian government's financial support in the construction of Ghana's seat of government in 2008.

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