The Fourth India-Africa Forum Summit, which had been planned for next week in New Delhi, has been postponed amid concerns over an Ebola outbreak in parts of Africa, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Thursday.
The decision followed consultations between Indian officials, the Chairperson of the African Union and the African Union Commission to assess whether the summit and its related events could safely proceed under the evolving health circumstances.
In an official statement, the MEA said the Government of India and the African Union discussed the current public health situation and reaffirmed the importance of continued cooperation to strengthen outbreak preparedness and response across the continent. They noted the need to bolster support for Africa CDC and relevant national health institutions.
India reiterated its solidarity with affected African countries and signaled readiness to offer material and technical assistance to Africa CDC-led operations, stressing that any support will be coordinated to respect and reinforce an Africa-led response.
New dates for the summit and its ancillary meetings have not yet been set. The MEA said timing will be agreed through further consultations between India and African partners and announced in due course.
The statement also underlined the long-standing diplomatic and historical ties between India and African nations, describing the relationship as rooted in solidarity, mutual respect, South–South cooperation and shared goals of peace, development and prosperity.
The postponement comes after the World Health Organization declared the worsening Ebola situation in parts of the region a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Health officials have pointed to the Bundibugyo variant as the current driver of the outbreak. Bundibugyo is a less frequently observed Ebola strain with different properties in terms of severity, transmissibility and responsiveness to treatments compared with the more widely known Zaire strain that caused the 2014–2016 West Africa epidemic.
Scheduling updates and further details will be released as consultations continue. This article is based on a syndicated feed and is published as received; the original publisher and distributor are responsible for the source content.
