India and Malawi, the current chair of African Union, on Wednesday discussed ways to enhance their cooperation in the field of trade and investment, mining, coal and agriculture and inked four agreements to deepen ties in the areas of health, rural development and mineral resources.

During their talks, Malawian President Bingu Wa Mutharika and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held discussions on several bilateral issues after which the pacts were inked.

Mutharika as Chairperson of the AU in the current year has played a positive role in strengthening the ties between India and the Union and his visit would provide an opportunity to enhance not only the bilateral engagement with Malawi but also with Africa as a whole, according to officials.

The Malawian side appreciated India’s contribution in the field of infrastructure, information and technology, medicine, trade and agriculture.

India provided a line of credit of USD 30 million to Malawi in year 2008 which was used for irrigation, grain storage, tobacco threshing and one village one product projects and a line of credit of USD 50 million was announced during the visit of the Vice President in January, 2010.

Malawi has sent proposals for utilisation of the line of credit for projects dealing with setting up of cotton ginning and spinning facilities, green belt initiative and one village one product programme.

The two sides also discussed ways to boost bilateral trade, which stands at USD 185 million and was increasing with the utilisation of Malawi of greater opportunities in the Indian market.