Malawi, India sign extradition treaty

The governments of India and Malawi on Friday signed an extradition treaty to facilitate easy transfer and extradition of nationals suspected to be in conflict with the law in their respective countries of origin.

Among others, the treaty mandates Malawi and India to transfer convicted persons and any person accused of committing a crime in their respective countries.

The treaty will also cover offences committed outside the territory of the requesting State but in respect of which it has jurisdiction and allow extradition of convicts regardless of whether the offence was committed before or after the agreement entered into force.

Malawi High Commissioner to India George Mkondiwa and India’s  Joint Secretary Consular in the Ministry of External Affairs Devesh Uttam exchanged the instruments at a ceremony in New Dehli on Friday.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mkondiwa said he was happy that the bilateral relations between Malawi and India continue to grow, further commending the Indian Government for supporting Malawi with 50 000 vaccines for Covid-19 front line workers.

He said: “This reflects a true spirit of south-to-south cooperation. We also thank India for its continued financial and technical support to Malawi in various fields of development including capacity development in agriculture, education, information technology health, energy and water development.”

On his part, Uttam said the exchange of the extradition treaty instruments marked another milestone in Malawi and India relations.

He said: “I am happy that India and Malawi share common beliefs and aspirations at the national and international level. Malawi and India continue to enjoy cordial bilateral relations and we thank Malawi for supporting India’s bid at the United Nations.”

Article 26 (2), of the Treaty states that the agreement shall enter into force on the date of exchange of the instruments of ratification, which is February 26 2021.  

Malawi and India will soon embark on the preparation and signing of instruments for exchange of convicted persons, currently serving their sentences in prisons of the two countries.

In 2017, Malawi signed a similar treaty with the government of Rwanda to create an enabling environment for the two countries to administer and dispense justice in various criminal activities involving citizens of the two countries.