Abuja — Nigeria and India yesterday signed four agreements covering relations, capacity building, consultations and defence co-operation.

The ceremony was part of the three-day visit to Nigeria by the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, who arrived in Abuja on Sunday.

The prime minister has also addressed a joint session of the National Assembly.

Signed before the leaders of the two countries, the agreements include a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Foreign Service Institute of India and the Nigerian Foreign Service Academy.

Also signed was an MOU between the Indian Council for World Affairs and the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Protocol for Foreign Office Consultations and an MOU on Defence Co-operation.

The two countries also agreed to broaden co-operation by finalising some other agreements within the next six months.

The agreements to be finalised include a double taxation avoidance agreement, bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement and bilateral inter-governmental science and technology agreement.

They are also to renew the 1976 bilateral air services agreement and work out a mutual legal assistance treaty, as well as an extradition treaty.

Also to be renewed are trade agreement, agreement on co-operation against trafficking of drugs and a cultural exchange programme (2008 - 2010).

The defence pact was signed on behalf of the two nations by Nigeria's permanent secretary in the ministry of defence and India's secretary of defence while the other agreements were signed by Nigeria's minister of state (1) for foreign affairs, Alhaji Tijjani Kaura, and his Indian counterpart, Mr Anand Sharma.

The permanent secretary will soon travel to India to follow up on aspects of the defence pact.

Speaking with journalists after the ceremony, Kaura said the agreements would enhance relations between Nigeria and India, which he described as cordial.

He said Nigeria and India shared common aspirations at the UN as both had shown interest in permanent seats in the Security Council.

Sharma said relations between the two countries dated back to the colonial era and that the agreements would enable them to explore new grounds.

Earlier, while addressing the joint session of the National Assembly, Prime minister Singh declared that no reform of the Security Council would be complete without an adequate representation from Africa.

He also threw his weight behind Nigeria's view that the general Assembly should resume its role as the pre-eminent organ of the United Nations as originally envisaged in the UN charter.

"For this partnership to flourish, we have to encourage and promote broad-based exchanges covering all facts of our relationship. leaders in government, parliament, industry and civil society in both our countries have to commit themselves to making this partnership work," he said.

He also stressed the need for India to establish a sustained dialogue with Africa to identify joint approaches on international issues, such as combating terrorism, nuclear disarmament, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, trafficking of small arms and narcotics.

"India will work with Africa in the areas of peace-building and peace-keeping. We have been involved in peace-keeping in Africa over the past six decades."

In what Singh described as "India, Nigeria and our partnership with Africa in the 21st century," the Indian head of government observed, "In the past, we have shared the pain of subjugation and the joy of freedom and liberation.

"We have worked shoulder to shoulder in the fight against apartheid and racial discrimination. We have worked together in the Non-aligned Movement to promote South-South Cooperation for development.

"Today, we need to stand ever more united to meet the challenges of the new millennium.

"India is the largest democracy in the world; Nigeria is the largest democracy in Africa. We are multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual societies. Our societies embrace modernity while preserving their traditions. There is a natural logic in ties between our two countries."

Singh expressed gratitude to Nigeria for its hospitality and invited President Umaru Yar'Adua to visit India at a mutually convenient date.

A communiqué issued after the ceremony said India would establish two information technology laboratories in the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA).

The two countries condemned terrorism in all forms and stressed the need to promote the democratisation of the structures of global governance by increasing the participation of developing countries in the UN.

According to the communiqué, the Nigerian side described Singh's visit as a landmark in bilateral relations.

Later in the day, Singh met with Nigeria's economic team to share lessons on fast-tracking the Nigerian economy to achieve a double-digit growth.

Nigeria's Vision 2020 seeks to place the country among the top 20 economies in the world by 2020, and experts said it would require a growth rate of 13.5 per cent annually to realise the vision.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NA) reports that the minister of state for finance, Mr Remi Babalola, told newsmen after the hour-long meeting that the Indian prime minister said there was a need to diversify the Nigerian economy, with a focus on the agricultural sector.

He said the discussions also touched on the need to properly fund the educational sector and develop human capital in both the public and private sectors.

"The Indians have passed through an economic journey, but within a short time they moved at a very high speed to achieve a double-digit growth," he said.

Babalola said the discussions touched on the need to optimise Nigeria's growing population and translate it into a gain for the economy rather than a burden.

He said the Indian prime minister also shared the Indian experience in the area of oil and gas and how the economy was diversified by propping interest in agriculture and other sectors.

Babalola said the country already had a trade partnership with India, noting that some of the areas of partnership needed to be highlighted to achieve better results.

The meeting was attended by the minister of state for petroleum, the chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the directors-general of the Bureau for Public Enterprises and the Debt Management Office.

While the men in government were busy signing agreements, the first lady of India, Gursharan Kaur, and her host, Turai Yar'Adua, also conducted activities in service of humanity.

Mrs. Yar'Adua feted her guest to a tea party where both of them recognised the cultural affirnities between their countries.

The two first ladies also toured the presidential villa zoo and later visited an orphanage in Karu, Abuja, where they delivered gifts to the children.