By Samuel Ssebuliba
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is today expected to address parliament as he concludes his to-day state visit to Uganda.
Mr.Modi’s visit to Uganda is the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 21 years.
On arrival yesterday, he held bilateral discussions with President Museveni at State House, Entebbe during which both leaders agreed that terrorism poses a grave threat to global peace and stability and reiterated their strong commitment to combat it in all its forms and manifestations.
Meanwhile, President Yoweri Museveni has asked Modi to encourage Indian investors to start assembling solar powered water pumps in Uganda.
While addressing the Asian community at Kololo Airstrip on Tuesday evening, Museveni said Uganda is lagging behind in irrigation systems and thus Indian investors can take advantage of that gap.
He said that Uganda often experiences climatic challenges like prolonged drought that affects agriculture, requiring irrigation.
The president also praised the contribution of the 30,000-strong Indian Diaspora towards Uganda’s national development and economic growth, adding that Uganda’s import bill is slowly shrinking largely due to production from Indian owned factories.
Museveni explained that in a period of four years Uganda’s import volumes have dropped by $500 million due to presence of import substitution companies that have been set up by Asians.
The Asian Community in Uganda forms just 1% of the country’s population but contributes upto 65% of the country’s revenue in taxes.
