Bhavna Singh India
India’s ties with Morocco has been transformed in the last half a decade following the strengthening of security cooperation and the conclusion of nearly 40 pacts in areas including IT, education, culture, agriculture, mutual legal assistance, extradition, as the North African country wants to emerge as India’s gateway to Southern Europe and Africa.
India’s ties with Morocco go back to the 14th century, when the famous traveler and writer from Tangier, Ibn Batuta traveled to India. India was among the first countries to recognize Morocco on June 20, 1956, and relations were soon established with the country in 1957.
Tourism remains a vital pillar of the Moroccan economy and the country’s second biggest employer after agriculture.
Indian tourists are known to be among the world’s highest-spending globetrotters.
Their spending power has been estimated to be four times that of the Chinese and Japanese which justifies the need for a planned strategic campaign for Morocco in India.
Moreover, in view of Morocco’s known strength in sectors like food processing, private actors in Morocco should look at India with greater seriousness.
Located at the crossroads of African and European market, Morocco can cater to the needs of leading Indian firms, eyeing increased footprint in the said markets and thus engagements at governmental level must be supplemented by frequent interaction between private sector through mechanisms like business delegation and forums.
There is also a scope of cooperation on capacity building and skill enhancement in order to leverage the rich demography of both the nations and adapt to the fast-changing paradigm of the manufacturing world.
The long-proposed scope of cooperation modelled on tripartite base involving Morocco, India and Sub-Saharan African countries can create a win-win situation for all the three sides and must be considered seriously for the common good of all.
Going forward, liberal Visa and trade policies can be of great help in ensuring increased trade engagements and enhanced people-to-people connect.
Experiencing repeated terrorist incidents and sharing liberal values that eschew extremism, both the nations can upgrade the relations into a qualitatively higher level by effective cooperation on counter-terrorism and radicalization.
India and Morocco have enjoyed a steady and fruitful relationship that continues to grow thanks to the trade opportunities between both countries.
Indeed, the various agreements between India and Morocco yielded effective results for both countries who set a model of South-South cooperation that is also a win-win partnership Thus, by working on a range of economic endeavors towards a qualitative upgradation of engagements, New Delhi and Rabat can realize the untapped potential of bilateral relations