NEW DELHI, INDIA: India has offered all help to the small African island nation of Cape Verde, which has asked for assistance especially in developing its information technology sector.

Jose Brito, minister of foreign affairs, cooperation and communities of Cape Verde, a group of 15 small islands located in Macronesia in North Atlantic Ocean, had arrived Thursday on a four-day official trip to India, the first ministerial visit from the west African country.

He held delegation-level talks with the Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor at Hyderabad House Friday, followed by a meeting with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna. Tharoor said India was ready to extend a line of credit to Cape Verde out of the $5 billion pledged to Africa, particular to buy computer hardware and software from India.

The two sides discussed ways to strengthen economic ties in the future, especially to aid Cape Verde's IT and maritime sectors.

On Thursday, Brito had made a powerpoint presentation before industry captains hosted by Confederation of Indian Industry, where he invited Indian investment to his country. Brito highlighted his country's ambition to be a sea power and called for Indian companies to take advantage of its free trade zone for sending exports to third countries.

Asking for India's help in developing his country's IT sector especially, Brito pointed out that Cape Verde had a well-educated workforce with a high literacy rate of 70 percent of its 450,000 population.

The minister had a first-hand experience of India's IT initiative in the African continent, when he visited the office of Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd to see the facilities of Pan-African e-network. He even took part in online interactions with tele-medicine and tele-educational centers in Senegal and Burundi and watched a live Continuing Medical Education session delivered from Escorts Heart Institute and Research Center here.

©IANS