After just completing his four-day visit to Dubai for the COP 28 summit, President William Ruto is set to embark on a two-day state visit to India.
In a Monday, December 4 press statement from the office of the president, the state house spokesperson Hussein Mohamed highlighted the reason for the president’s visit to the Asian country.
“Bilateral discussions with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will span crucial areas such as agriculture, trade, and investment promotion, forging healthcare partnerships, particularly in pharmaceutical production and capacity building, and collaboration in education, ICT, maritime affairs, and renewable energy,” the official statement read in part.
Further, it was noted that the talks are envisioned to lead to the signing of several memoranda of understanding (MOUs) that will strengthen the partnership between the two nations.
Similarly, President Ruto will meet India’s head of state, President Droupadi Murmu, and address a trade and investment forum.
According to the state house spokesperson, the trade and investment forum is meant to highlight the massive potential for economic cooperation between India and Kenya.
“The State Visit marks a significant milestone in the relationship between Kenya and India, providing a platform for collaborative initiatives and contributing to mutual benefits for the two nations and peoples,” the statement added.
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President Ruto Strikes Deal at COP28 Summit
Further, President Willam Ruto struck deals at the COP 28 summit which earned Kenya Kshs682 billion from the mega climate summit.
The monies are envisioned to be used to support green industrialization in the country.
This was following a series of meetings on investments in climate change partnerships for Africa culminated, where President Ruto was a key participant.
Notably, the president led African heads of state at the Africa Green Industrialization Initiative, which aims to accelerate and scale green industries and businesses across Africa.
However, despite the news of the massive amount of money deals struck by the president, questions were raised on the huge number of delegates that headed to the United Arab Emirates for the COP 28 summit.
Office of President Responds to Questions about Delegates Attendance
Reports by the organizer of the COP 28 climate summit, United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCC) revealed that Kenya ranked 12th with the most delegates.
Further, UNFCC showed that Kenya has 763 delegates in attendance out of the total 97,000 from 195 nations.
Of these, 368 are party delegates, while 397 are overflow delegates.
However, in an interview, the statehouse spokesperson, Hussein Mohamed refuted the findings, stating that the country had only cleared 51 delegates to attend the conference.
Also Read: COP28: President Ruto’s Full Speech as He Articulates Africa’s Agenda
“First of all, I think the number that was given was exaggerated. The list of people that were cleared by the national government is 51,” Hussein Mohamed noted.
The spokesperson added that a lot of the Kenyans who attended were facilitated by other entities outside of the government.
Nevertheless, he acknowledged that this year’s Conference of Parties (COP) 28 was well attended in comparison to other COPs before it.
