Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today left on three-day visit to Tanzania to take the bilateral ties forward in a comprehensive manner.

Singh's visit is the first by any Indian head of government after September 1997. It is also the first head of government visit from a non-African country after President Jakaya Kikwete assumed the second term following the general elections last year.

For India, Tanzania is an important partner in Africa.

India and Tanzania have played a significant role in the process of decolinisation and they struggled against apartheid. The two countries were active in developing the process of south-south cooperation for the benefit of the developing world.

The bilateral trade was over USD 1.1 billion in 2010 and the imports covered a number of agricultural commodities.

India has become the second largest investor in Tanzania with total cumulative investments of USD 1.3 billion till 2009.

Prime Minister Singh and Kikwete will tomorrow hold wide ranging discussions to find ways and means for upgrading and further consolidating the bilateral ties in a comprehensive manner, a senior official said.

There will also be focus on the two countries' partnership in the development process of Tanzania through education, capacity building and infrastructure development.

Tanzania is Prime Minister's second leg of his six-day visit to Africa. He left for Dar-al-Salam after co-chairing the second Africa-India Forum Summit and also held bilateral meetings with his Ethiopian counterpart Meles Zenawi.

At the end of the Summit, the Addis Ababa Declaration was adopted which called on all countries to ensure that acts of cross-border terrorism do not occur and that their territories are not made a base for terrorists.