India and Gambia share warm and friendly bilateral ties that are cooperative in Non-Aligned Movement and United Nations. Political relations, development partnership, trade and investment, form the foundation of India-Gambia bilateral relations. Immediately after Gambia’s independence from the British, India established its first diplomatic mission, that followed with the then Deputy Minister for External Affairs, Shri Dinesh Singh’s visit to Banjul to participate in the Independence celebrations on 6th February, 1965. 

Special Envoy of Prime Minister (SEPM) and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Shri. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi visited Gambia in September 2015, to personally invite Gambian delegation to participate in India Africa Forum Summit III (IAFS-III). Gambian minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Addoulie Jobe, headed a 3-member delegation to participate in 4th India-Africa Trade Ministers’ Meeting on 23.10.2015 in New Delhi. 

 

Indian Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, met President of The Gambia, Adama Barrow, on the side-lines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London in April, 2018.

 

Additionally, President Ram Nath Kovind of India, on 30th July 2019 became the first ever Indian president to set foot on the land of The Gambia with an aim to discuss trainings and capacity buildings opportunities between India and Gambia. 

 

The Gambian Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad, along with senior officials of his ministry visited India from March 7-12, 2019 to participate in the 10th Anniversary of establishment of the Gambian High Commission in New Delhi (inaugurated in February 2009) and the 54th Independence Day celebration of the Republic of The Gambia. 

 

Defence Minister of The Gambia, Sheikh Omar Faye, attended the 1st India-Africa Defence Ministers Meet held in 2020.

 

Education and Culture 

As part of educational trainings, 25 Senior Civil Servants from The Gambia participated in the Special Training Programme held at National Centre for Good Governance, Mussoorie from June 10 to June 25, 2019. Another Special Training Programme was organized by Foreign Service Institute for 20 Gambian Diplomats from June 20 to July 20, 2018.

More than 80 Gambian students were registered for tele-education courses under India’s tele-education and tele-medicine platform eVBAB in March 2020.

 

Regular OPD medial camps are organised in The Gambia with participation of top doctors from India.

Indian Council for Cultural Relations allots 33 scholarships to The Gambian students every year for pursuing higher education in India.

 

President Adama Barrow in 2019 wrote an anthology on “What Gandhi Means to me” as part of ongoing celebrations of 150th Birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. 

 

International Day of Yoga is enthusiastically celebrated in The Gambia every year to create mass awareness regarding the health benefits of yoga for the people of Gambia.  

 

Approximately 1600 Indian nationals are presently residing in The Gambia, mostly engaged in trading and private businesses including the construction sector.