New Delhi, March — According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India sent 1,000 metric tonnes of rice to Sierra Leone on Tuesday in support of the West African country’s school lunch program. In a post on X, the MEA stated that the shipment highlights India’s efforts to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN and strengthen cooperation throughout the Global South. “Global South collaboration in action! According to MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, “India has sent 1,000 metric tonnes of rice today to support Sierra Leone’s school midday meal scheme.”
The shipment is intended to strengthen a program that connects nutrition with educational outcomes and to increase food security for school-age children. The donation comes after the two nations have maintained diplomatic ties.
The second round of Foreign Office Consultations (FoC) between India and Sierra Leone was held in New Delhi in March of last year. During the meeting, officials examined bilateral relations in several areas, including trade, investment, health and pharmaceuticals, and education. Alan C.E. Logan, Director General of Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Sevala Naik Mude, Additional Secretary at the MEA, co-chaired the meeting. Both parties reiterated during those talks that India would continue to support Sierra Leone’s capacity building and more general development objectives through a variety of initiatives, including soft loans, scholarships, and technical assistance. According to the MEA, India and Sierra Leone have decided to work together more closely in areas that are relevant today, such as defence, energy, and development cooperation in general.
The India Stack initiative’s advancement was one tangible result of the FoC. Following a Memorandum of Understanding on “Cooperation in the field of sharing successful digital solutions implemented at population scale for digital transformation,” officials discussed the next steps for implementing specific digital public infrastructure solutions in Sierra Leone and reported satisfactory progress. The term “India Stack” describes a collection of digital public goods that India has created and shared with partner nations for scalable digital transformation, including digital identity, electronic consent, and payment infrastructure.
Additionally, the two governments discussed cooperation in international forums, such as the United Nations. According to the MEA, Sierra Leone promised to accelerate the internal processes necessary for joining the Global Biofuels Alliance and the International Solar Alliance (ISA), as well as to support India’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2028–2029. India and Sierra Leone have had friendly relations for almost 60 years, based on similar developmental goals and shared values. The rice shipment is the most recent of several development partnership initiatives that New Delhi claims highlight its status as a dependable partner for Sierra Leone’s development goals.
