Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Emelia Arthur, has credited India as a crucial contributor to her personal and professional development, describing Ghana’s bilateral relationship with its Global South partner as one that delivers shared and lasting benefits. She said India’s long-standing commitment to human capital development continues to shape leadership and institutional growth in Ghana.
The Minister made the remarks at the India–Ghana Partnership Day, held on February 4 at the Indian High Commission, where she reflected on her own academic experience in India. She revealed that she studied at the Indian Institute of Applied Human Power Research between 1994 and 1995, an experience she said fundamentally influenced her understanding of development planning and governance.
According to her, the training exposed her to education planning as a critical pillar of long-term national development, guiding investments in health, infrastructure, and public institutions to ensure the equitable distribution of resources across a large population. During her time in India, she noted that it reshaped how she viewed learning, planning, and national development.
“I am, therefore, a direct beneficiary of India’s investment in human capital. This was in 1994-95, when I went to the Indian Institute of Applied Human Power Research. That was when I realized that we’ve been playing and being. Learning, therefore, was about education planning as a component of your long-term development plan” she said.
She praised India’s education system as reformative, noting that it instills discipline, systems thinking, and a deep appreciation of how institutions, technology, and people must work together to achieve sustainable development. She noted that these values have shaped her leadership journey and continue to inform her work in steering Ghana’s fisheries and aquaculture sector.
She also commended India’s cultural philosophy, which she said is underpinned by inclusivity and social equity, highlighting the impact of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Scholarship Programme in expanding educational opportunities for Ghanaians and strengthening people-to-people ties between the two countries.
Touching on sectoral cooperation, the Minister outlined the growing ripple effects of the India–Ghana partnership in fisheries and aquaculture, particularly in aquaculture development, fisheries research, value-chain enhancement, post-harvest management, innovation, and institutional capacity building. She noted that these areas are central to food security, job creation, and the sustainable management of aquatic resources.
She added that the broader India–Ghana relationship continues to expand into trade, investment, health, digital innovation, agriculture, and technical assistance, standing as a strong example of effective South–South cooperation anchored in shared priorities and mutual respect.
The Minister commended the Government of India, the ICCR, the High Commission of India in Ghana, and all partners nurturing the bilateral relationship. She also paid tribute to India’s High Commissioner, Manish Gupta, saying his legacy in Ghana would endure through the lives impacted, partnerships strengthened, and goodwill built between the two nations.
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