26 May 2011: The Second Africa-India Forum, which met from 24-25 May 2011, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, aimed to strengthen the cooperation ties between the African countries and India in the areas of economics; politics; science, technology, research and development; social development and capacity building; tourism; infrastructure, energy and environment and media and communication.

The meeting adopted Addis Ababa Declaration in which African Union (AU) and India agree to enhance their partnership to address global challenges, and a Framework for Enhanced Cooperation that substantiates this commitment for cooperation in the different areas addressed.

On climate change, the Declaration stresses, among other issues, the importance of reaching an agreement on a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol as an indispensable step to preserve the integrity of the international climate change regime, while stressing the importance of the Bali Action Plan and the Cancun Agreements and noting the African common position on climate change.

The Declaration also reiterates the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), noting that sustainable development models and unique paths of development in developing countries should be respected, including by guaranteeing the policy space of developing countries, and urging that aid commitments for developing countries must be fulfilled. The declaration also stresses the need for a comprehensive and balanced outcome of the Doha Development Round of trade negotiations, while protecting developing country concerns with regard to livelihood, food security and rural development, in particular with regard to non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) services and rules.

The Framework for Action identifies a number of related areas for enhanced cooperation, including, with regard to health, in the application of advancement in science, technology, research and development to training in the area of HIV, TB and Malaria; and on infrastructure, energy and environment, including on renewables energies and in sustainable development practices.[AU Press Release][Addis Ababa Declaration][Framework for Enhanced Cooperation]