Dr Charles Murigande visited India in end-March on a four-day tour. Before emplaning for Kigali, he spoke to DIPLOMATIST Managing Editor William Hawke and Editor Ramesh Kumar in Delhi. Excerpts:

Q: What's the outcome of your Indian visit?

A: We discussed bilateral issues between Rwanda and India and tried to figure out a framework in the areas of co-operation. Of particular importance is the need for massive assistance in the area of human resources development. As you know, the 1994 genocide has put us back. We've lost almost a million people resulting in a huge deficit in terms of skill sets: be it engineering, management etc. Already Rwanda sends students to Indian educational institutions to acquire a variety of skills. Besides, we also need a greater inflow of educational personnel - teachers, professors - to our country. Under the Indian Technical and Economical Cooperation, our civil servants are befitting from Short Training Courses.

Q: What's happening on the trade front?

A: Though Rwanda and India did not have any bilateral agreement in place before 28th March this year, now we have one. A General Agreement of Bilateral Cooperation between the two countries was signed on March 28. Rwandan companies are importing pharmaceutical products, equipment/machinery for small industries and fabrics. But the trade opportunities are phenomenal.

Q: Rwanda predominantly being an agrarian economy, did the topic of greater cooperation between the two countries come up for discussions?

A: My discussions were in general nature and we did not go into sector specific talks. This will be dealt with during the forthcoming visit of our Trade and Investment Minister to your country with a business delegation. I am sure they will be discussing everything under the sun, including joint venture possibilities, credit line through Exim Bank of India and increased export from Rwanda.

With information and communication technology becoming one of the growth drivers globally, there is a big scope for collaborative effort in the arena of telecom networking. Now that we are engaged in a major rebuilding exercise, the current Indo-Rwandan talks will help us get the state-of-the-art technology.

Energy is another area of interest. Luckily Rwanda enjoys huge reserves of natural gas, methane in particular. We will be looking for an investor who can pump in money and help us in the power sector.

Q: How would you describe the present Rwanda's political system?

A: It was fragile and hence collapsed in 1994. You'll be surprised that we have managed to recover and recoup at a faster clip. We are re-engineering Rwanda and de-centralization is one of the key elements of our growth strategy. While there is no hesitation in admitting the 1994 episode should not have happened, don't miss out that we, Rwandans, have the courage of conviction and sincerity as well as humanity to pick up from scratch. We are confident of building a prosperous Rwanda.

Q: Is all well between Rwanda and its immediate neighbours….

A: On the east, you've Tanzania with whom our relationship is good, so also with Burundi in the south. But let me admit that our relationship with Democratic Republic of Congo in the west is under rough weather. Rearming and training of forces inimical to Rwanda was not a good thing. For better relationship, we signed the Pretoria Agreement with Congo with a sincere hope that Congo would stop assistance to genocide forces and repatriation of violators and Uganda would withdraw forces before October 2002. Kinsasha has not delivered till date, though the deadline is over. As far as Uganda in the north is concerned, they also intervened in Congo. We are exploring some common friends in the global arena to sort out our conflict with Congo and Uganda. If we go beyond our immediate neighbours, Rwanda's relationship is excellent with Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Africa and Mozambique.

However, if you ask about our international relations, it is low. Glitches are there in every nation's history. Rwanda is no different. Believe me, we are a well-behaved nation today.

Q: Looking back, why could the 1994 Genocide not be tackled by the United Nations and others?

A: Everyone failed, including the Organisation for African Unity. Why, even the United Nations failed miserably. For UN, the daily death toll of thousands was no more than statistics.

Q: Earlier you said Rwanda's international relations are in the lower stratosphere. Don't you think Rwanda should go for an image correction or makeover?

A: Like I said earlier, we regret that. But the international community did literally nothing to stem the genocide. We, the people of Rwanda, stood up and restored our humanity. It is not an exaggeration that there are good people in every nation and there are bad people in every country as well. As I pointed out earlier, Rwanda is a well-behaved country, barring that glitch.

Q: Of late, there is a lot of talk on the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Is Rwanda part of these grandiose plans?

A: Of course. Rwanda is part of the Steering Committee. We attended the second meeting in March. As you have rightly put it, the objectives of NEPAD are indeed big. But without great visions, people and nations will perish. We want to ride up the growth ladder through galvanising our energies and working collectively. Is it wrong?