Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Wednesday (July 9, 2025) conferred with Namibia’s highest civilian award, ‘Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia Mirabilis’.
The award was presented by Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. PM Modi is in Namibia on the last leg of his five-nation visit. This is the first visit of Prime Minister Modi to Namibia and the third-ever prime ministerial visit from India to the country.
This is the 27th international honour bestowed upon Prime Minister Modi by a foreign government since he assumed office in May 2014.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi and President Nandi-Ndaitwah held bilateral talks, following which the two countries signed four agreements to bolster bilateral cooperation in several areas, including energy and healthcare.
Addressing Namibia’s Parliament, PM Modi also laid out India’s vision for Africa – freedom to future – and said India sought to cooperate, not compete, and not take but to build and grow together.
“Let us create a future defined not by power, but by partnership, not by dominance, but by dialogue, not by exclusion, but by equity,” he said.
“We believe that Africa must not be just a source of raw materials. Africa must lead in value creation and sustainable growth. Let our children not only inherit the freedom we fought for, but the future we will build together,” the PM said. Some of the remarks by Modi are seen as a subtle dig at China, which has a vast presence in the continent, at a time many African countries are looking to diversify their partnerships.
According to an Indian statement, Modi thanked Namibia for its strong support and solidarity extended to the people of India in the wake of the Pahalgam attack. They agreed to strengthen the global fight against terrorism. They also committed to work together to amplify the voice of the Global South.
PM Modi thanked Nandi-Ndaitwah for Namibia’s support in the cheetah conservation project in India and invited Namibia to join International Big Cat Alliance. “They (cheetahs) are happy and have adapted well in their new home. They have grown in numbers as well. Clearly, they are enjoying their time,” the PM said, while welcoming the fact that Namibia has adopted India’s UPI payment system.
PM Modi also said India would be scaling up development cooperation efforts through capacity building programmes for Namibian experts and exploring partnerships in setting up manufacturing facilities in Namibia. He called for expediting preferential trade agreement that India is negotiating with Southern African Customs Union. Two MoUs were also signed.
