About Us Bilateral Relations
  • Home ›   Bilateral Relations ›   India-Mali Relations ›   Bilateral Relations

Embassy of India
Bamako

India- Mali Bilateral Brief


I. Political Relations: India and Mali have traditionlly maintained friendly relations based on shared values, mutual trust and goodwill. The two countries do not have any geo-political conflicts. The Government of India established its Embassy in Bamako in May 2009. Mali followed soon by opening its Embassy in New Delhi in August 2009. During the political and security crisis in Mali and consequent upon a military coup in March 2012, India strongly supported efforts for restoration of constitutional order in Mali and preservation of its unity and territorial integrity. India also contributed US$ 1 million for strengthening of Malian forces at the Donors Conference held in Addis Ababa. After the restoration of democratic order since September 2013, Government of India, while welcoming the development, reiterated its willingness to further strengthen its development cooperation partnership with Mali. India has consistently opposed colonialism and liberally extended developmental assistance under various schemes to Mali over the years. Mali too has been supportive of India on various international issues. The Government of Mali acknowledges India’s contribution and looks forward to further strengthening its relationship with India. Both the countries recognize terrorism as a grave threat to peace and prosperity and agree to cooperate at bilateral, regional and multi-lateral level to combat this menace.

II. High level exchanges: Over the years, India and Mali have witnessed regular high level bilateral exchanges. Further, the leaders of the two countries exchange greetings on important occasions like national days of the two countries.

A. High level visits from Mali:

  1. H.E. Mr. Moctar Ouane, the then Minister for Foreign Affairs and International cooperation of Mali visited India from 8-13 October 2009. A Protocol on Foreign Office Consultations and an Agreement on Political, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural cooperation between India and Mali were signed during the visit. 

  2. H.E. Mr. Amadou Toumani Touré, the then president of Mali, paid a State visit to India in January 2012. President Touré was accompanied by First Lady Madame Toure Lobbo Traore and a high-level Ministerial and business delegation. 

  3. The then President of Mali H.E. Mr. Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta visited India to participate in the 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit at New Delhi, in October 2015. President Keita was accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Foreign Minister H.E. Mr. Abdoulaye Diop, other Ministers and senior officials. 

  4. The then First Lady of Mali, Madame Aminata Maïga Keïta visited India in August 2015 to attend the Global ‘Call to Action Summit 2015. She also briefly met Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during her visit.

  5. H.E. Mr. Konimba Sidibe, then Minister of Investment Promotion and Private Sector of Mali visited India to participate in the 12th CII Exim Bank Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership in March 2017 in New Delhi.

  6. A three member delegation of National Assembly of Mali headed by H.E. Mr. Abderhamane Niang, Parliamentarian and President of the High Court of Justice of Mali called on the then Vice-President of India and Chairman, Rajya Sabha, H.E. Mr. M. Venkaiah Naidu at Parliament House on 21 December 2017. The Malian delegation also included Members of Parliament of Mali, Mr. Ousmane Kouyate and Mr. Youssouf Aya. 

  7. H.E. Mr. Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, the then president of Mali again visited India in March 2018 to participate in the Founding Conference of International Solar Alliance (ISA) at New Delhi. President Keita was accompanied by a high-level delegation.

  8. H.E. Mr. Boubacar Gouro Diall, then Secretary General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Mali, led an official delegation to India for the 1st India-Mali Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) in New Delhi held on 4 November 2019. 

B. High level visits from India:

  1. H.E. Mr. Vishnu Deo Sai, then Minister of State for Steel and Mines, GoI visited Bamako as Special Envoy of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India to hand over the invitation for 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-III) to the President of Mali. 

  2. H.E. Mr. Hamid Ansari, then Hon’ble Vice President of India (HVPI),  accompanied by Shri Arjun Meghwal, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs and three Members of Parliament, paid the first high level visit from India to Mali on 29 – 30 September 2016. During the visit, HVPI called on President of Mali, had restricted and delegation level meetings with the Prime Minister of Mali, addressed the National Assembly and interacted with the Indian community in Bamako.

  3. H.E. Mr. M.J. Akbar, then Minister of State for External Affairs (MoS), visited Mali from March 2-3, 2017 for the first ever Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) between the two countries. During the visit, he co-chaired the 1st India-Mali JCM with H.E. Mr. Abdoulaye Diop, the Foreign Minister of Mali.

  4. On 25 April 2020, Hon’ble External Affairs Minister of India H.E. Dr. S. Jaishankar and the then Foreign Minister of Mali Mr. Tiébilé Dramé held telephonic conversation to discuss various aspects of bilateral relations, including India’s support to Mali during this COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, India donated a huge consignment of life-saving medicines to Mali in two consignments. First batch of the medicines were received by H.E. Michel Sidibe, Minister of Health & Social Affairs, Govt. of Mali on 19 May 2020. A second batch of life-saving medicines were handed over to H.E. Dr. Mama Coumaré, Secretary General, Ministry of Health & Social Affairs, Govt. of Mali on 10 June 2020.

III. Bilateral dialogue mechanisms: India and Mali hold bilateral dialogues under the framework of (i) Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) and (ii) Joint Commission Meetings (JCM)

A. Joint Commission Meeting (JCM): H.E. Mr. M. J. Akbar, then Minister of State for External Affairs (MoS) paid an official visit to Mali from March 2-3, 2017 and along with the Foreign Minister of Mali H.E. Mr. Abdoulaye Diop, co-chaired the first-ever JCM between the two countries. They reviewed the bilateral engagement between the two countries in various sectors like agriculture, energy etc., and laid out areas of future co-operation.

B. Foreign Office Consultations (FoC):  The first-ever India-Mali FOC were held in New Delhi on 4 November 2019. The Indian delegation was led by H.E. Mr. T.S Tirumurti, then Secretary (Economic Relations), Ministry of External Affairs, GoI and the Malian delegation was led by H. E. Mr. Boubacar Gouro Diall, then Secretary General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Mali. The consultations provided an opportunity to review the entire gamut of bilateral relations and to explore new areas for cooperation.

IV. Bilateral Agreements between India and Mali:

i)  Protocol on Foreign Office Consultations (October 2009)

ii) Agreement on Political, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation (October 2009)

iii) MOU on Cooperation in Geology and Mineral Resources (January 2012)

iv) Cultural Exchange Programme (September 2016)

v) MOU on Standards between the Bureau of Indian Standards and Direction Nationale De Industries, Mali (September 2016)

vi) MoU between Republic of Mali and Telecommunications Consultants India Limited [TCIL] for Mali’s participation in e-VidyaBharati and e-AarogyaBharati (e-VBAB) Network Project of Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India (November 2019)

V. Development partnership: India has been a close development partner of Mali. India’s development assistance to Mali has been in the form of Line of Credit (LoC), grant assistance and capacity building training under the framework of India Technical and Economic cooperation (ITEC) scheme. India and Mali are founding members of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and India has also been extending assistance to Mail under the framework of ISA.

A. Lines of Credit (LoC) Projects: Under Exim Bank of India funded LoCs, 7 development projects at the cost of US$ 303.6 million have been successfully completed in Mali. These LoC projects were in the sectors of energy, agriculture and food processing, supply of railway coaches, and agro machinery and tractor assembly. Currently, a 225 KV double circuit power transmission project connecting Bamako and Sikasso via Bougouni (395 Kms) at the value of USD 100 million is being implemented. The project is in its final stages and is expected to be completed soon. 

B. International Solar Alliance: During ISA Founding Conference held in New Delhi in March 2018, three solar projects were selected for financing under LoC - two on bilateral basis and one through ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID):

  1. Setting up a sustainable village and use of solar photo voltaic technology for irrigation of 2500 ha of agricultural land at the value of US$ 22 million

  2. Construction of a 50 MW Solar Photo-Voltaic Power Plant in Fana at the value of US$ 60.65 million

  3. Construction of 2 MW Solar Photovoltaic plants in Mopti (EBID) - US$ 8 million

The LOC for projects at S.No. 1 & 2 offered by the GoI is under consideration by the Government of Mali.


C. Grants Projects: Government of India has also been supporting Mali with cash grants and equipment. 

  1. Cash assistance of US$500,000 towards revival of World heritage site of Timbuktu - this was announced during the visit of Hon'ble Vice President of India to Mali on September 29-30 2015. The donation cheque was handed over to the Minister of Culture of Mali on 2 March 2017 by Shri M.J. Akbar, Hon'ble Minister of State for External Affairs during his visit to Mali.

  2. Gifting of IT Equipment to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mali worth CFA 10,036,500 (Eq Rs. 10,93,074) - this was announced during the visit of Hon'ble Vice President of India to Mali on September 29-30 2015. These equipment were handed over to MOFA on 14 April 2017. 

  3. Grant assistance of CFA 8,772,251 (Eq. Rs. 11,85,263) for procurement of scanning equipment for digitization of documents of the African House of Photography, Bamako under the aegis of Ministry of Culture, Government of Mali. The equipment was handed over to the Government of Mali in November 2020. 

  4. Grant assistance of CFA 2,806,500 (Eq Rs. 3,84,163) for procurement of basic equipment in the field of obstetrics for a newly built Community Health Centre in Missirikoro, Sikasso, Mali. Equipment was handed over in December 2020. 

D. India technical and Economic Cooperation Scheme (ITEC): Mali is also a beneficiary under India’s ITEC scheme. Seventy (70) slots for training courses in various technical, scientific, and managerial fields have been allotted to Mali under the ITEC scheme during the year 2025-26. 

E. Scholarships offered by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR): Under ICCR-Africa Scholarship Scheme, now re-named as India-Africa Maitri Scholarship Scheme, 15 slots have been offered to Malian nationals for the FY 2025-26 for pursuing undergraduate/Post graduate/Ph.D., programmes in arts, basic sciences, engineering and other technical fields. ICCR scholarships are very popular and attract large number of Malian students.  

F. Other Scholarships:

i) Under various initiatives of the India-Africa Forum Summits

ii) Agricultural scholarships administered through the African Union (AU)

iii) C. V. Raman Fellowship Scheme: 8 slots offered to Mali, 2 have already been availed

iv) Two Malian military officers participated in the training programme conducted by the Centre for UN Peacekeeping in Delhi (2012)

v) Malian Army had been offered 2 slots in the army training institutes at Non Commissioned Officers Academy (NCO Binaguri) and 1 slot in Junior Leaders Academy (JLA Bareilly) for the year 2020-21

G. e-VidyaBharati and e-AarogyaBharati (e-VBAB) project: Mali has been offered the e-VidyaBharati and e-AarogyaBharati (e-VBAB) Network Project to provide free tele-education courses in various academic disciplines and free continuing medical Education to doctors/nurses/para-medical staff including free medical consultancy. A MoU between Mali and Telecommunications Consultants India Limited [TCIL] was signed on 04 November 2019 in New Delhi for Mali’s participation in this project. 52 students from Mali have enrolled in various courses till July 2023 academic session under e-VBAB.  

VI. Bilateral Trade: Mali is a least developed country (LDC), heavily reliant on external aid. India has extended Duty Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) Scheme to Mali. Total bilateral trade between India and Mali during the FY 2023-24 was US$ 148.97 million. During FY 2023-24 India exported goods worth US$ 119.62 million to Mali while Mali’s export to India stood at US$ 29.35 Million. Main items of exports of India to Mali were pharmaceutical products, cotton, woven fabric, tea, rice, bicycle and motorcycle parts and accessories thereof, household articles, sewing machines, etc. Main items of India’s import from Mali were gum arabic, gold, cotton, cashew nuts etc.

Mali can make immense use of Indian expertise in sectors such as power, communications, IT, education, mining, agriculture, automobile and pharmaceuticals etc. Mali has a liberal and friendly investment and trade policy. For Indian investors, investment opportunities exist in the field of agriculture (cotton, food processing, abattoirs and tanneries), automobiles (two-wheeler segment), mining and pharmaceuticals (generic drugs). Infrastructure development especially railway connectivity project could be major business opportunity in Mali (connecting Mali, Senegal, Niger).

VII. Indian Investment/Indian Community/Malian Investment: Indian commodities, pharmaceutical and light engineering products have a significant presence in Mali that otherwise has an abundance of Chinese / EU products. The number of Indians in Mali is estimated to be around 600. They are mainly in retail business, mining, power, steel, cement, pharmaceuticals and ago-industry sectors. Mali has no known investment in India.

VIII. Culture: Mali is an old civilizational country of North Western Africa. It has a rich culture and heritage. The Bambara, and Dogon farmers, nomadic Tuareg, Fulani, Bozo fishers, and each of Mali’s dozens of ethnic groups have their own unique languages and history. These tribes have a vibrant lifestyle very similar to the tribes in India. Malian music and literature have been heavily influenced by the traditional oral storytelling. Malian music is much celebrated throughout the world. Traditional storytellers called griots are called to perform at weddings and other events. The northern parts of Mali (Timbaktu, Gao and Kidal) are very popular tourist centers but the access has now been restricted due to the jihadists attacks since 2012.

IX. Bilateral cultural exchanges: India and Mali signed a bilateral cultural exchange programme in September 2016. A 2 member cultural delegation visited India during the 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-III) in October 2015 for a musical performance and received great appreciation. In March 2017, India donated US$ 0.5 million for the reconstruction of the world heritage of Timbuktu which was announced by HVPI during his visit to Mali in September 2016. An Exhibition hosting Timbuktu manuscripts “Taj Mahal meets Timbuktu” was held at National Museum, New Delhi from 14 May – 6 June 2018. Mali’s celebrated Singer Habib Koite and his musical troupe "Bamada" participated in the Udaipur World Music Festival 2020 in the State of Rajasthan, India from 7-9 February 2020. Mali’s cultural troupe Cheickne Sissoko 5Tamans participated in the National Tribal Dance Festival in Raipur, Chhattisgarh from 28-30 October 2021. Further, Mali sent a 21-member team at the UNESCO-India-Africa (UIA) Hackathon, Greater Noida, India from 23-25 November 2022.

There are many Indophiles in Mali who regularly conduct programmes on Indian culture, bollywood etc. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in his monthly radio programme “Mann Ki Baat” on 27 September 2020 praised Mr. Seydou Dembélé alias 'Hindustan Ka Babu of Mali' for his passion towards Indian culture. This was an unprecedented event in the history of India-Mali relationship. It is the first such occasion when an individual from either country was publicly appreciated by the political leadership at the highest level.

X. UN / International Solar Alliance

Mali has been supportive of India’s line on various international issues. Mali has signed and ratified the International Solar Alliance Framework Agreement on 2 October 2017.

****

Bamako

February 2025