VP Radhakrishnan Meets Kenyan Parliamentary Delegation

• Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan met a Kenyan parliamentary delegation led by Speaker Moses Wetang’ula.
• India offered to share digital governance and paperless Parliament technologies with Kenya.
• Discussions covered capacity building, development partnership and digital initiatives.
• India sought Kenya’s support for permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 13th Aug: Vice President of India and Rajya Sabha Chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan on Thursday held bilateral talks with a parliamentary delegation from Kenya, reaffirming India’s commitment to strengthening parliamentary cooperation, digital governance and strategic ties between the two countries.

The Kenyan delegation was led by Rt. Hon. (Dr.) Moses M. Wetang’ula, Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya, who is on an official visit to India.

During the meeting, the Vice President highlighted the strong parliamentary relationship between the two nations and expressed India’s readiness to share its expertise in digital technologies, including solutions that support the transition towards a paperless Parliament. He also appreciated the presence of an Indian-origin Member of Parliament in Kenya’s Parliamentary Friendship Group and welcomed the proposal to install a bust of Mahatma Gandhi within the premises of the Kenyan National Assembly.

Recalling high-level engagements, Shri Radhakrishnan referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kenya in 2016 and Kenyan President William Ruto’s visit to India in 2023, describing them as important milestones in bilateral relations.

The Vice President highlighted India’s development partnership with Kenya, noting projects supported through grant assistance, including the refurbishment of the Mahatma Gandhi Graduate Library at the University of Nairobi and CT scan infrastructure at the Kenyan Navy Base in Mtongwe. He also recalled India’s medical assistance to Kenya during the Ebola virus outbreak.

On capacity building, Shri Radhakrishnan said India offers around 400 scholarships and professional training programmes for various Kenyan government ministries. He added that 20 Kenyan diplomats are currently undergoing training in India, while annual ICCR scholarships for long-term courses have been increased from 80 to 100.

The Vice President also highlighted progress in digital cooperation, including the DigiLocker pilot project in Kenya, signed during the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, and ongoing collaboration on the GATI Shakti project.

Thanking Kenya for supporting India’s candidature for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for 2028–29, Shri Radhakrishnan sought Nairobi’s continued support for India’s bid for permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

Emphasising the long-standing historical and cultural ties between the two countries, he noted that India and the Swahili coast have shared trade links for centuries and expressed hope that Kenya would join the International Solar Alliance and the International Big Cat Alliance.

The Vice President also welcomed Kenya’s recognition of the Indian diaspora as the country’s 44th tribe, describing it as a reflection of the deep people-to-people bonds between the two nations.

Concluding the meeting, Shri Radhakrishnan thanked the visiting delegation and expressed confidence that the visit would further deepen parliamentary engagement and strengthen the comprehensive partnership between India and Kenya.