The Ebola public health emergency in Africa cast its shadow on India’s diplomatic calendar on Thursday (May 21, 2026), with the Ministry of External Affairs and the African Union announcing the postponement of the India-Africa Forum Summit-IV that was scheduled to take place here on May 28 to 31. In a joint statement, the MEA and the AU hinted at the Ebola crisis, saying that the decision was taken in view of the “evolving health situation in parts of Africa”.
The last such summit was held over a decade ago, and had also been postponed by a year due to an Ebola outbreak.
Consultations were held between the Indian government and the Chairperson of the African Union and the African Union Commission regarding the “emerging public health situation on the continent,” the MEA and the AU said in their statement. “Following these consultations, the two sides agreed that it would be advisable to convene the Fourth India-Africa Forum Summit at a later date,” they added.
There were several other Africa-related events to be hosted by the Indian Council of World Affairs and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations that have also been cancelled, though some African delegates have already arrived in New Delhi for these events.
New dates for the Summit and its associated meetings “will be finalised through mutual consultations and communicated in due course,” the MEA said. The cancellation of the summit is being viewed as a setback to India-Africa ties, though officials insisted that the decision was taken in the best interest of all stakeholders.
India expressed “solidarity with the peoples and Governments of Africa” and pledged to help them in dealing with the crisis with an “Africa-led” approach.
Earlier, the African Union had called for “collective international solidarity and cooperation” to deal with the outbreak of Ebola virus that affected multiple countries including Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda.
Responding to queries from The Hindu earlier this week, a spokesperson for Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission had said that the fourth India-Africa Forum Summit would provide an opportunity to work on “future pandemics” and response mechanism.
“While the Ebola outbreak is affecting a number of African countries, it is important to underscore that pandemics and public health emergencies respect no borders and require collective international solidarity and cooperation,” the spokesperson, Nuur Mohamud Sheekh, said in an email response to The Hindu on Monday (May 18, 2026). That came a day after the World Health Organisation declared that the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda was “a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)”.
Mr. Youssouf had earlier expressed deep concern about the Ebola virus disease, vowing that Africa would “overcome” this latest public health challenge through “unity, coordination and collective action.”
The fourth India-Africa Forum Summit was planned to be held between May 28 and 31, after a gap of nearly 11 years. Indian officials have blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for the long gap since the last such summit was held in 2015.
Former Indian ambassador to Ethiopia, Gurjit Singh, expressed confidence that the summit would be held once the latest health emergency stabilises in Africa. He pointed out that the third India-Africa Forum Summit was scheduled to be held in 2014 but had to be similarly postponed by a year, because of the outbreak of the Ebola virus in western Africa in 2014.
The India-Africa Forum Summits have emerged as the largest structured events that combine diplomatic, cultural, financial and political interactions between India and the countries of the African continent. The first two summits had been held in 2008 and 2011.
Published - May 21, 2026 03:41 pm IST
India / Africa / health / World
Source: The Hindu - India News
