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Farirai Machivenyika
Senior Reporter
India has pledged to lobby for support towards Zimbabwe’s bid to re-join the Commonwealth and for a seat as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
This was said by Mr Puneet Roy Kundal,additional secretary from India’s Ministry of External Affairs after meeting the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ambassador Albert Chimbindi, for the third round of the Foreign Office Consultations yesterday.
The delegation was also in the country for the commissioning of the US$48,1 Deka water pipeline project for Hwange Thermal Power Station on Monday.
The funding for the project was provided by the Indian government.
“We”ve had discussions on this and we have agreed to carry forward these discussions as well. India and Zimbabwe traditionally have supported each other at multilateral meetings and multilateral fora.
“We are very supportive of each other’s candidatures and I can assure you that Zimbabwe will not find India wanting, just as we have never found Zimbabwe wanting whenever we have asked for support,” he said.
Mr Kundal also said India will continue assisting Zimbabwe in the medical field and will urge Indian companies to invest in the sector in the country.
In his remarks, Ambassador Chimbindi commended India for its assistance and support it has rendered to Zimbabwe over the years.
“We acknowledged and recognised the fact that India has always been playing a leading role within the Commonwealth and we have taken advantage of their presence and their friendship to ask them to lend their support to Zimbabwe”s bid to rejoin the Commonwealth and we are grateful that India would be taking that lead in that regard.
“We also discussed the issue of being non-permanent members of the Security Council. India would want to be a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the period 2028 to 2029 and Zimbabwe’s candidature has already been endorsed by the AU for the period 2027 to 2028. So, as you can see, we also shared perspectives on that and requested them to support us and also to mobilise support for our candidature within their regions and with their friends and allies,” Ambassador Chimbindi said.
Online Reporter