Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted 200 cows to villagers under the Girinka Programme at Rweru Model Village. This was Modi’s way of connecting with Rwanda’s age-old cultural practice of gifting cows to neighbours to promote brotherhood. It is through this type of messaging and a credit line of $200 million that India hopes to counter the growing influence of China in Rwanda. A few days ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping had pledged $126 million for building roads in Rwanda. China has made deep inroads in Rwanda investing over $400 billion over the past 12 years. Nearly 70% of roads in the country are built by Chinese companies. Rwanda is special to both India and China because it is the third fastest growing economy in Africa. Its strategic location makes Rwanda an ideal hub for logistics and services businesses to expand across the continent. Little wonder Modi became the first Indian PM to visit Rwanda.