New Delhi [India], August 11 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday extended greetings to the government and people of the Republic of Chad on the occasion of their Independence Day.

Taking to Twitter, Jaishankar wrote, "Greetings to Foreign Minister Cherif Mahamat Zene and the Government and people of Chad on the occasion of their Independence Day."Relations between Chad and India have witnessed significant growth. The two countries share very cordial relations, and India enjoys great goodwill and admiration in the Republic of Chad.

High-level contacts and cooperation between India and Chad have picked up since 2011 with many bilateral Visits and High-level interactions.

The High Commission of India in Abuja, Nigeria is concurrently accredited to Chad. India also maintains an Honorary Consulate in N'Djamena. In 2019, Chad opened a resident embassy in New Delhi.

Former Chadian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Nagoum Yamassoum visited New Delhi in March 2005 to attend the first ever India-Africa Project Partnership conclave. He is the first Chadian government official to visit the country.

Former President Itno led a 32-member delegation on a visit to New Delhi to attend the third India-Africa Forum Summit in October 2015. Itno held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 October.

The relations assumed a boost in recent times with the visit of the then Prime Minister of Chad Pahimi Padacke Albert to India in March 2018 to attend the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Solar Summit in New Delhi on 11 March 2018. He held a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of India on the sidelines of ISA.

The Republic of Chad has been a recipient of many of Indian assistance programmes. The Government of India donated 5,000 metric tonnes of rice to Chad in 2004.

India provided Chad with lines of credit worth USD 50 million for five manufacturing projects under the TEAM-9 initiative. The projects include setting up bicycle manufacturing, a plant for manufacturing and assembly of agricultural tractors, power tillers, trailers and implements, a steel billet plant and rolling mill, a cotton yarn plant, and a fruit juice plant.

The Government of Chad signed an MoU to implement the Pan-African e-Network project in May 2009. As of December 2016, TCIL is carrying out installation for the project in N'Djamena.

Citizens of Chad are eligible for scholarships under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. Chadian diplomats have also attended the Professional Course for Foreign Diplomats (PCFD) organised by the Foreign Service Institute of the Ministry of External Affairs. Chadian nationals have also received Hindi language training fellowships in India.

The fifth largest country in Africa, Chad gained autonomy in 1960 after it was colonized by France in the 1890s through a military quest.

It is a landlocked country with gold and uranium as its natural resources, it is bordered by the Central African Republic, Nigeria, Libya, Niger, and Sudan. (ANI)