India, Nigeria sign four agreements, including on defence ties

Abuja, Oct 15 (UNI) India and Nigeria today signed four agreements, including one on Defence Cooperation, during talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua here.

The agreements were signed after a delegation level talks which followed a tete-a-tete between Dr Singh and President Yar' Adua.

Dr Singh, the first Prime Minister to pay bilateral visit to Nigeria in 45 years, was assisted in the talks by Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and Defence Secretary Vijay Singh.

External Affairs Ministry sources said India and Nigeria signed an MoU for cooperation between Foreign Service Institute and the Nigerian' Foreign Service Academy and another for ties between Indian Council for World Affairs and Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, besides a Protocol for Foreign Office Consultations.

Sources said the details of the MoU on Defence Cooperation and others would be made available later.

Both the sides also decided to finalise and sign nine other agreements in the next six months.

They include : Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, Bilateral Inter Governmental Science and Technology Agreement, Bilateral Air services agreement (renewal of 1976 agreement), Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, Extraditiion Treaty, Trade Agreement, Agreement on cooperation against trafficking of drugs etc and Cultural Exchange Programme 2008-10.

UNI