'I am here to solve trade imbalance between India and Uganda': Modi

PM Modi is in Uganda on the second leg of his three-nation tour to Africa.

Kampala, July 25: Asserting that India has become investor friendly due to policy driven governance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that he is Uganda to resolve trade imbalance between the two countries.

PM Modi is in Uganda on the second leg of his three-nation tour to Africa. PM Modi arrived in Ugandan capital Kampala last evening on a two-day visit to the country - the first bilateral tour by an Indian prime minister since 1997.

"India is a policy driven governance, where there is tax stability and predictable taxation. That is why investment, for anyone, is easy here..President of Uganda is right in saying there is a trade imbalance between India and Uganda. I have come here to solve that," PM Modi said in his address at the India-Uganda Business Forum in Kampala.

"We have to fully exploit the favourable conditions for doing business between India and Uganda," the Prime Minister added.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, speaking at the India Uganda Business Forum, exhorted the business community from both countries to tap the opportunities available for enhancing trade and investment.

Modi and President Museveni earlier unveiled a bust of India's first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the Indian community event. Earlier, both leaders held delegation-level talks and signed four MoUs in defence co-operation and other areas.

Prime Minister Modi also hailed India's ties with Uganda and other African nations, saying the resource-rich continent is now in the centre of his government's foreign policy. He announced that India will open 18 new embassies, taking the total number of the country's missions in Africa to 47.

Later in the day, Modi will head to Johannesburg in South Africa to attend the 10th BRICS Summit. The theme of the summit is, 'BRICS in Africa: collaboration for inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the 4th Industrial revolution'.