Interview with Her Excellency Mrs Judith Kan’goma Kapijimpanga, High Commissioner, Republic of Zambia in India

India and Zambia have significant historical ties. Dr Kenneth Kaunda, the first President of Zambia, himself drew inspiration from India’s freedom struggle. Please give us a sense of how ties have evolved between the two nations over the years…

Our relation with India has evolved from merely political to include economic relations. India and Zambia have cooperated on a number of issues. They were both members of the Non Aligned Countries during the cold war and still continue to work closely with each other. We have good cooperation in areas of defense, technical assistance and capacity building among others.

Was India able to provide political, diplomatic and material support during Zambia’s liberation struggle against British colonialism?

India provided guidance and some logistic support to Zambia’s liberation struggle. The first President of Zambia consulted a lot from India’s independence leaders and continued to consult on various issues during the cold war period.