Shri Balasubramanian, Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, on Wednesday said the country would offer 500 scholarships to Nigerians in 2023.

Mr Balasubramanian disclosed this during a courtesy visit to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

The envoy said his working visit to the agency was to promote information and communication exchange between the two countries.

“We will be having a group of Journalists from Nigeria go to India, not on a course but” actually a field visit being organised to expose India,” stated Mr Balasubramanian. “In other words, what India has been doing in the area of politics. We will not be doing it exclusively for Nigeria, but for West Africa, for about 30 people.”

He added, “I am sure that Nigeria, being a part of G20, will be able to get more numbers, so we will be doing it after March and April. I will discuss it with you to get your recommendations also; we do award 500 scholarships every year to Nigerians, 250 of them are on the civilian side.”

The Indian ambassador also mentioned that the scholarship involved other courses that journalists could be interested in, saying, “we work on a calendar basis, and our financial year comes to close in March.”

Mr Balasubramanian added, “So, April to March is our calendar through which we do all these things. Currently, it is two and a half months that are available but come April, it will be the first 250, and we will be happy to continue these things.”

He commended bilateral relations between the two countries to have been excellent and that more would be done to deepen India-Nigeria ties in healthcare delivery further.

The Indian ambassador extolled the volume of trade between both countries, saying that over 135 Indian companies have invested $19 billion in Nigeria since the past four decades of diplomatic relations.

(NAN)