New Delhi, April 6:

Ten heads of state and government are among the leaders of 14 African countries who will be here this week for the first-ever India-Africa summit that seeks to counter China’s growing influence in the resource-rich continent.

The two-day summit from Tuesday will be attended by some of the African heavyweights like South African President Thabo Mbeki, Uganda President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Burkina Faso Prime Minister Tertius Zongo, Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila Kabange and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

It will be a partnership, based on a shared struggle against apartheid and colonialism in the past, between a rising India and a resurgent Africa, and open new pathways of cooperation between them.