Mali suspended from African Union

Mali suspended from African Union

Part of: GS Prelims and GS -II – International Relations 

In news

• The African Union suspended Mali’s membership in response to the military coup and it threatened Mali with sanctions if a civilian-led government was not restored. 
• West African regional bloc Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS had also suspended Mali.

About Mali

• Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa. Capital: Bamako.

About African Union

• It is a continental union consisting of 55 countries of Africa. 
  • In 2017, the AU admitted Morocco as a member state.
• The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya in 1999.
• It was founded in 2001 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
  • It was launched in 2002 in Durban, South Africa.
  • The AU’s secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa

India and AU

• India is a member of the AU Partners Group (AUPG), which meets periodically in Addis Ababa. 
• India-Africa Forum Summit was the first ever India-Africa Forum Summit, participated by the Leaders of 14 African countries and the African Union Commission. 
  • It represented a turning point in the India- AU relations.  
  • The Summit adopted the Delhi Declaration and the Africa-India Framework for Cooperation, which constituted the blueprint for cooperation between India and Africa in the 21st century.