60 years of Uganda-India ties: Museveni’s visionary leadership turned early adversity into triumph

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Last year (2025) marked the Diamond Jubilee anniversary of diplomatic relations between Uganda and India, the two countries having opened embassies in each other’s capitals: Kampala and New Delhi, 60 years ago in 1965.

This was a ‘’marriage” between young and mature independent countries, as Uganda was only four years old, having attained its independence in 1962, and India was mature at 18, having attained its independence in 1947.

Despite the age difference, the two people were not strangers as the Indians had been living in Uganda for almost 70 years, having been brought there by our mutual coloniser – the British, to build the railway to connect the land-locked Uganda to the Sea.

The marriage was going well until less than 10 years later, in 1972, when “all hell broke loose’’ when the then President of Uganda, Idi Amin, decided to expel approx 80,000 Asians and People of Indian Origin (PIO) from Uganda, giving them only 90 days!! One can only imagine the trauma that action caused the concerned people and History Books are “awash” with Reports of what that did to the reputation and economy of Uganda.

In reality, that would have been the end of the ‘marriage”, had the Almighty God not sent Uganda a Visionary President, His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, who, together with his patriotic team, liberated Uganda in 1986 and ushered in the peace and security we are all enjoying today.

We are forever grateful to him and his team, past and present. President Museveni, in addition, attended to our shattered economy – one of the first things he did was to allow the expelled Asians to return to Uganda without fear of expulsion and not only that but to reclaim property that was rightfully theirs.

This of course took time to show results because many had settled well in their new countries, others were scared of returning as “once bitten, twice shy” but many did return over time and today, between 35-40,000 PIOs live and work in Uganda, side by side by their Ugandan brothers and sisters, doing Vibrant Business in important sectors such as Manufacturing, Value Addition, Hospitality, Education and Health.

And that is not all, the Indian Government over the years, but more recently under their great Leader, Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Shri Narendra Modi, has assisted Uganda in its development journey through support in various sectors, particularly Education and Capacity Building, ICT, Energy, Defence, Health and Culture.

Currently, the Bilateral Relations between Uganda and India are at an all-time high with high-level visits, economic delegations and technological support. India is one of Uganda’s top Trade and Investment partners and in 2023, it was Uganda’s top Export Destination country in the whole of Asia.

The significant contribution of Uganda’s Honorary Consuls in Mumbai (Hon. Agrawal) and Chennai (Hon. Saraogi) is worthy of acknowledgement. The recent opening of a direct Uganda Airlines route from Entebbe to Mumbai has reduced connectivity time by half and brought the two brotherly countries closer. This bilateral relationship is not one-sided; we also play our part by supporting India in international fora.

Myself, in my capacity as the current “Go-between” in this ‘’marriage’’, on behalf of the Government and the people of Uganda, I play my role as “Keinegyezi”, the person who adds firewood to keep the fire of this friendship burning. Hence in late November 2025, my team at the Uganda High Commission, New Delhi, and I organised a Grand Celebration to mark the 60-year journey between the two friendly countries.

We coincided the function with celebrations of our 63rd Independence celebrations with Chief Guest, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, Hon. Shri Kirti Singh; Special Guest, our own Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. John Mulimba; Diplomats from African and other countries; Honorary Consuls from Uganda Consulates in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Singapore and Nepal; Indian Investors to Uganda; the Diaspora and Friends of Uganda. His Excellency President Museveni sent his counterpart a congratulatory message, which was read at the function.

It was grand and colourful, befitting the 60 year journey the two brotherly countries have travelled together, through thick and thin and have come out Triumphant. It reminds me of my own life’s journey captured in my Memoir “Triumph Over Adversity….” (Fountain Publishers, 2024).

In conclusion, I wish to state boldly that our Visionary Leader, President Museveni, saw early on the great damage expelling the Indians had done to our relationship, reputation and economy and rectified it by returning them, hence turning that early Adversity into the Triumph and Friendship we are enjoying today. 

The Author is the High Commissioner of Uganda to India. She is also Accredited to Sri Lanka, Singapore, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives.