Zambian Opposition Skeptical Of India’s Global Agenda

A Zambian opposition, the United Progressive People party has cautioned the huge India investment agenda in Africa could be tied to an unknown global agenda.

UPP media director Mainda Simataa says the state visit by Indian President Kovind must serve as a warning to Zambia because the Asian state was officially announcing its arrival in Africa to contest, and hopefully outwit China by getting the lion’s share of the cake.

“Let it be known to every Zambian that India is engaged in a battle for global supremacy with its bitter Asian rival – China. Both nations are opening up fronts on the African continent for the Political and economic exploitation of our cheap raw materials, labour, and markets for their products,” says Simataa.

BELOW IS THE FULL STATEMENT BY THE UPP MEDIA DIRECTOR

PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
12 APRIL, 2018
LUSAKA, ZAMBIA

*UPP Warns Zambians to Beware of India’s Global Agenda: Indian President
Kovind in Zambia, State Visit or State Capture?*

The UNITED PROGRESSSIVE PEOPLE PARTY (UPP), in its sacred duty to inform
and guide the nation, wishes to bring to the attention of the general
public, and the Patriotic Front (PF) government in particular, the hidden
agenda and grave dangers, of embracing with open arms, the Indian
President’s State visit to Zambia. Let it be known to every Zambian that
India is engaged in a battle for global supremacy with its bitter Asian
rival – China. Both nations are opening up fronts on the African continent
for the Political and economic exploitation of our cheap raw materials,
labour, and markets for their products.

Thus, the state visit by Indian President Kovind, must serve as a warning
to us, that the India State has officially announced its arrival in Zambia
to contest, and hopefully outwit China by getting the lion’s share of the
Zambian National cake which China is enjoying!
Zambians must therefore beware, that the Indian President serves and
represents, first and foremost, the national and geo-political interests of
his appointing nation – India, and not those of his unsuspecting and
gullible hosts – the PF government.

India today, being a fast rising global power-house after its own glory and
place in the world, shall only use Zambia’s resource and industrial
potential as a stepping stone to its glory.

Therefore, the Indian state visit should not be a cause for celebration,
but a cause for concern, given that the PF in their usual fashion of
spending when they don’t have, even wasted billions of tax-payers money to
throw a lavish state banquet, when Zambia is the third hungriest nation on
earth.

We can further be certain that the Indian state visit will not yield any
meaningful benefits for ordinary Zambians given India’s foreign policy of
global expansion and prosperity through exploitation of weaker nations, and
of course, the PF governments’ own culture of corruption.

Let’s not be deceived, all the Indian carrots and bilateral agreements/
deals to be cut with Zambia’s ruling corrupt elite (PF) are ultimately
calculated to serve and reinforce India’s economic stronghold in Zambia!

It must be further noted that India, like China, already possesses two key
ingredients to become a global super-power, namely, nuclear power
technology and a huge population of over a billion people to provide cheap
labour and a huge market for consumption. But like all rising imperialist
powers, India needs to amass more and more wealth by capturing other virgin
territories to provide cheap labour, cheap raw materials, and a ready
market for their products, and that is where Zambia fits in the Indian
grand scheme of things – to provide all these three key ingredients as we
are already doing for China, and at the expense of our own people!

India is looking out for itself, and we must have no illusions over their
so called state visit for mutual development, which is actually a move at
state capture!

It’s not a secret, every Zambian knows that most Indian businesses in
Zambia, including some individual Indians, are a small but very problematic
and exploitative class! Even without the formal backing and intervention of
the Indian state, these people have risen to prominence and form a
closely-knit powerful, influential, wealthy and dominant class; with a huge
investment portfolio in key Industries ($ 5 billion Dollars) covering
Mining (VEDANTA’S KONKOLA, KCM) telecommunications (BHARTI AIRTEL, MTN,
TECH MAHINDRA, ISON BPO), manufacturing (TRADE KINGS, VARUN BEVERAGES,
CALIFORNIAN BEVERAGES) and PHARAMCEUTICALS to mention but a few.

Furthermore, it is no secret that all these companies mentioned have a
record of thriving off labour abuse, exploitation, police and court
corruption, flouting of trade regulations, with the help and protection of
the corrupt system of the PF regime.

Therefore, in the final analysis, a few critical questions must be posed,
and answered very frankly by every Zambian, for the future and wellbeing of
our nation, or our reenslavement, will depend on how we respond to such
economically hostile engagements: have we benefited anything from similar
arrangements with China before, a bigger power than India?

Is Zambia’s relation to India another case of modern colonization?

Is this renewed relationship between Zambia and India a win-win situation
for all, or is it the typical case of India wins all?

And finally, is this a state visit, or yet another case of state capture,
like the Gupta’s did to Zuma in South Africa?

Cde Mainda Simataa
Party Media Director
UNITED PROGRESSIVE PEOPLE (UPP)

The post Zambian Opposition Skeptical Of India’s Global Agenda appeared first on Zambia Reports.