Embassy of India

Algiers, Algeria

India-Algeria Relations

Diplomatic relations between India and Algeria were established in July 1962, the year Algeria gained independence from French colonial rule.  Since then relations between the two countries have been cordial. India has supported the Algerian liberation movement since its inception. One of the primary forces behind the Algerian liberation struggle, the National Liberation Front (FLN), had its office in India in late 1950s and early 60s. After independence, both countries were part of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and shared developing country solidarity. Both countries have been supporting each other on issues at bilateral and multilateral levels. 

Important bilateral visits

2. There have been several high level exchange of visits by the leaders of the two countries.

Visits to India

3. Presidents : (i) Mr. Chadli Bendjedid, April 1982; (ii) Mr. Chadli Bendjedid,1983; (iii) Mr. Chadli Bendjedid,1987; (iv) Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, as Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebration, 24-29 January 2001.

4. Ministers : (i) Trade delegation, 1967; (ii) Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Foreign Minister, July 1974; (iii) Mr. Hadj Haoussine, Vice Minister for Chemicals and Petro-Chemical Industries, 1-8 April 1985; (iv) Mr. Mohamed Aberkane, Vice Minister for Cooperation, 16-21 March 1986; (v) Dr. Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi, Minister of External Affairs and Mrs. Ibrahimi, 25-30 January 1988; (vi) Mr Hachimi Nait-Djoudi, Minister for Transport and Telecommunications, 28 April to 1 May 1992 (vii) Mr. Ahmed Attaf, Foreign Minister, to attend the NAM Ministerial meeting, April 1997; (viii) Dr. Youcef Yousfi, Minister of Energy & Mines, 15-19 June 1999; (ix) Mr. Bakhti Belaib, Minister of Trade & Commerce (26 Member delegation), to participate in the G-15 Trade Ministers’ Conference in Bangalore, 17-18 August 1999; (x) Dr. Abderkane Mohammed, Health Minister, 26-28 September 2001; (xi) Mr. Abdelmalek Sellal, Minister of Transport, for the 8th session of the Indo-Algerian Joint Commission, 8-10 October 2003; (xii) Mr. Taib Louh, Minister of Justice, to attend the 16th International Conference of Chief Justices at Lucknow, 7-13 October 2015; (xiii) Mr. Bakhti Belaib, Minister of Trade & Commerce (trade delegation), to participate in 3rd India-Africa Trade Ministers’ Meeting and 3rd India-Africa Summit in New Delhi, 23 October 2015; (xiv) Mr. Bakhti Belaib, Minister of Trade & Commerce and Mr. Abdelkader Messahel, Minister of Maghreb Affairs, the African Union and the League of Arab States, on behalf of President Bouteflika, to participate in the 3rd India – Africa Forum Summit Meeting, New Delhi, 29 October 2015; (xv) Dr. Salah Kehbri, Minister of Energy to attend 4th India-Africa Hydrocarbon Conference, New Delhi, 21 January 2016. (xvi) Minister of Energy Mustapha Guitouni participated in the 16th International Energy Forum Ministerial Meeting, in New Delhi, India, from 10 to 12 April 2018. (xvii) Foreign Minister, H.E. Abdelkader Messahel paid an official visit to India from 30th January 2019 to 1st February 2019. (xviii) Mr. Ahmed Benyamina, Special Envoy in Charge of International Security Issues in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Algeria visited India to participate in the 69th Session of the 3rd Ministerial Conference on Counter Terrorism Financing “No Money for Terror” (NMFT) from 18-19 November 2022.

Visits to Algeria

5. Vice Presidents : (i) Dr. Zakir Hussain, June/July 1964; (ii) Dr. Mohammad Hidayatullah, 30 Oct.-2 November 1979; (iii) Shri Hamid Ansari with spouse Smt. Salma Ansari, 17-19 October 2016

6. Prime Ministers : (i) Smt. Indira Gandhi, NAM Summit, September 1973 (ii) Shri Rajiv Gandhi, June 1985

7. Ministers :  (i) Shri Dinesh Singh, Commerce Minister, September 1967; (ii) Sardar Swaran Singh, Defence Minister, 27 May – 2 June 1970; (iii) Shri P. Ramachandran, Energy Minister, December 1978; (iv) Shri K.D. Malaviya, Minister of Petroleum & Chemicals, 3-8 December 1974; (v) Shri Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan, Foreign Minister,  June 1976; (vi) Shri A.B. Vajpayee, Foreign Minister, 25-26 June 1979; (vii) Shri Madhavrao Scindia, Minister of State for Railways, 21-23 April 1986; (viii) Smt. Mohsina Kidwai, Minister of Urban Development for 25th Anniversary celebrations of Algerian Independence, 3-7 July 1987; (ix) Shri R.L. Bhatia, Minister of State for External Affairs, 10-12 October 1993; (x) Shri R.L. Bhatia, Minister of State for External Affairs, 19-22 January 1996; (xi) Smt. Kamala Sinha, Minister of State for External Affairs, 12-13 September 1997, (xii) Shri Omar Abdullah, Minister of State for Commerce, to co-chair the 7th session of India-Algeria Joint Commission Meeting, 24-26 June 2000; (xiii) Shri Jaswant Singh, External Affairs Minister, 23-25 October 2000; (xiv) Shri E. Ahamed, Minister of State for External Affairs, to participate in the 17th Summit of the Arab League (as Observer), 20-23 March 2005; (xv) Shri Murli Deora, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, 20-22 April 2007; (xvi) Shri Jitin Prasada, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, as Special Envoy to PM, 4-6 May 2011; (xvii) Shri E. Ahamed, Minister of State for External Affairs, 16-18 April 2013; (xviii) Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, for 9th Session of India-Algeria Joint Commission Meeting and to represent India as the “Guest of Honour” at the 2015 Algiers International Fair, 25-26 May 2015; (xix) Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Minister of State for Agriculture, as Special Envoy of PM, 11-13 July 2015; (xx) Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri V. Muraleedharan visited Algeria from 15-17 September, 2021 and reviewed bilateral relations.

8. Parliamentary delegations  : (i) 7 Member Parliamentary Goodwill delegation led by Dr. C.D. Pande, 14-18 December 1965;  (ii) High level delegation led by Smt. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Member of Parliament, on the occasion of Fourth Anniversary of the Proclamation of Independence of Algeria, 3-7 July 1966; (iii) Smt. Prashawati Gupte, Member of Parliament, visited from 24 Feb to 2 March 1986 to participate in 10th Anniversary of SADR (iv) Shri Anand Sharma, Member of Parliament, from 18 to 19 and 21 to 22 May 1988 to participate in the 15th Anniversary of Polisario (v) 4 member Parliamentary delegation led by Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, 1-3 February 2002.

9. We have a Joint Commission Mechanism (JCM) to comprehensively address bilateral cooperation. It was established by an agreement in 1981 to deal with bilateral issues and issues of common interest. The 9th JCM was held on 25-26 May 2015 in Algiers. It was headed by then Minister of Commerce and Industry from India Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman and then Algerian Minister of Transport Boudjema Talai. The 10th JCM is scheduled to be held in India at the level of foreign ministers. Functional requirements are covered by regular Foreign Office Consultations between the two Foreign Ministries, the last being held on 14 – 15 November 2018 in Algiers. 

Bilateral trade

10. Two-way reached a peak of US$ 2.9 billion per annum in 2018 and declined to US$ 1.5 billion in 2021. This trade figure of 2021, however, represented a rise of 12.5% over 2020 figures for total trade. In 2021, Indian exports amounted to US$ 935 million and imports from Algeria were US$ 625 million. In the current year, Indian exports from January to  June 2022 amounted to US$ 517 million and imports from Algeria were US$ 445 million for the same period. This represents a growth in total trade of 82.88% over the first half of 2021 and indicates that a trade recovery is underway. Major exports items from India include  rice, engineering goods, pharmaceutical products, polyethylene terephtalate, granite. Algerian exports to India consist largely of petroleum oils, urea, natural gas, heavy fuel oils, methanol.

Statistical Data of India’s trade with Algeria over the last five years: (US$ million)

 

Indian companies in Algeria

11. The commercial relationship between India and Algeria has seen higher level of engagements in recent years. There are a number of Indian corporations operating in Algeria in both public and private sector. Shapoorji Pallonji International is executing various construction works for the Algerian government such as housing projects, construction of hospitals, stadiums etc; IRCON International Ltd. is executing a railway project for the Algerian railway company ANESRIF; Dodsal Engineering and Construction FZE is executing a construction project of gas pipeline for the Algerian hydrocarbon company Sonatrach; and Larsen & Toubro Limited is executing hydrocarbon projects for the Algerian Oil and gas company Sonatrach. Another branch, Larsen and Toubro Transmission, is executing power transmission projects for the Algerian electricity company Sonelgaz. On 22 February 2022, Infosys Limited a major Indian Information Technology company and a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting and Intervalle Technologies, an Algerian IT company with more than 13 years of experience in IT banking sector, entered into a strategic partnership to address the needs of the banking sector in Algeria. 

Recent bilateral events

International Exhibition on Electricity, Power and Lighting Technology, from 10-13 October 2022 

12. A delegation led by the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) comprising 28 Indian companies participated in the ‘Expo Electricity North-Africa’, an International Exhibition on Electricity, Power and Lighting Technology, from 10-13 October 2022 at Safex Expo Centre, Algiers. 

Buyer Seller meet on ‘Opportunities in Agri Sector’ on 23 June 2021

13. The Embassy of India in Algeria organised a Virtual Buyer-Seller Meet on ‘Opportunities in Agri Sector’, in collaboration with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (​APEDA) and the Algerian Agency for the Promotion of Foreign Trade, ALGEX. Indian and the Algerian companies promoted win-win partnerships in the field of agricultural and processed food products between the two countries. 

Tourism seminar on 7 July 2022

14. The Embassy of India in Algeria organized a seminar to promote tourism and medical tourism to India. The seminar had participants from Algerian travel operators, media persons, health-care experts, Algerian clinics such as the Pasteur Institute attended the seminar.

 

Cooperation during Covid-19

15. India cleared commercial supply of Paracetamol and Hydroxychloroquine to Algeria in April and May 2020. EAM and AFM Boukadoum had a telephonic conversation on 25 January 2021 wherein they discussed commercial supply of Covid-19 vaccine. Subsequently, 50,000 doses of Covid-19 made in India vaccines reached Algeria on 1 February 2021 through Qatar Airlines. 

Bilateral Agreements

16. India has signed the following agreements with Algeria:

(i)    MoU between AIR and Algerian National Radio signed in the year 2015

(ii)   MoU between Doordarshan and Algerian National Television signed in the year 2015

(iii) Space Cooperation Agreement signed between (ISRO) India and (Algerian Space Agency) Algeria on 19th September 2018 at Bangalore.

(iv)  Visa Waiver Agreement for Diplomatic and Official Passport holders which came into effect on 01 October 2021

Cultural 

17. The 8th International Day of Yoga (IDY) was celebrated on 21 June 2022 at the iconic French garden of Jardin d’essai du Hamma.   This is the first time that IDY was conducted in a well known public space. Around 160 yoga enthusiasts, of all ages and from different walks of life participated in the event.  

Space Cooperation

18. India and Algeria have signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of space sciences, technologies and application on 19 September, 2018. The Agreement has been ratified by both the sides and has come into force. This was signed during the visit of Director General of the Algerian Space Agency (ASAL) to ISRO headquarters, Bengaluru. During the visit Director General, ASAL had interactions with ISRO officials regarding specific areas of cooperation like crop forecasting application using satellite imagery; methodology for solar energy assessment; Bhuvan platform for Algeria; and disaster management systems. Earlier, India launched four satellites [3 micro (ALSAT-1B, ALSAT-2B and ALSAT-1N) and 1 nano] for Algeria on 26 September 2016, under a commercial arrangement by Indian launch vehicle PSLV C-35 from Sriharikota. The first ever Joint Committee Meeting for implementation of the space cooperation agreement between the two countries was held virtually on 17 March 2022. One of the important agenda items discussed during the Joint Committee meeting was the request of Algerian Space Agency for capacity building and launching of their satellites.

Indian Community

19. There are currently 3800 Indians working in various projects and establishments in the country, many of them technically skilled persons working on projects in remote areas. A large number of workers are semi-skilled and work as masons, carpenters, painters and welders. There are 13 Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) Card holders and 10 Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) in Algeria.

23 November 2022