The Head of Chancery of the High Commission of India in Lagos, Mr Rachit Rawat, on Thursday said that direct flights from Lagos to Mumbai would commence this year.
Rawat said in Lagos that logistics arrangements for the take-off the of direct flights from Lagos to Mumbai had reached an advanced stage with Air Peace.
He said that the agreement for the direct flights was signed in January this year to facilitate more relations between India and Nigeria in the years ahead.
“Let me say that there is a great commitment for the take-off of direct flights from Lagos to Mumbai this year.
“Air Peace has expressed its interest in having direct flights from Lagos to Mumbai. And we are happily looking forward to the direct flight soon.
“Our Ministries of Civil Aviation and External Affairs have a huge trust in connecting India with rest part of the world, and Nigeria
cannot be left out because Nigeria is India’s major trading partner in Africa,’’ he said.
Rawat, who said that trade transaction between both countries was increasing, added that there was the possibility for his home government to liberalise its visas regime for Nigerians.
According to him, India remains Nigeria’s largest trading partner across the globe, while Nigeria is India’s trading partner in Africa.
“We are proud to have Nigeria as our major partner in Africa. Our mandate is to increase bilateral trade between our two countries over and over.
“We are happy to see increase in the volume of trade. The trade volume between India and Nigeria has increased by 25 percent last year.
“We look forward to strengthening more relations between our countries and people over and over,’’ he said.
