The present work is the outcome of my doctoral thesis submitted to the Centre for African Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Recent happenings in the DRC have, no doubt, drawn my attention; and therefore, I have added them in the epilogue to make the work up to date and presentable. In the preparation of the thesis, I am particularly indebted to my supervisor Prof. S.N. Malakar of the Centre. Without his help and cooperation it would not have been possible to complete the work. Apart from my supervisor, I also remain thankful to two other faculties - Professor Ajay K. Dubey and Dr Jamal M. Moosa for sparing their precious time for timely academic inputs. Further, I would be failing on my part if I don’t acknowledge invaluable help received from Professor P.R. Kumaraswamy, Centre for West Asian Studies from whom I learnt fundamentals of research. His help during critical moments of my research enabled me to develop a sense of confidence to handle the topic in right perspective. At the same time, I owe a debt of gratitude to Professor Vanita Ray, first person to go through my draft. She was the one who cleared my doubts and confusions at various stages of my work and showed- how to proceed. I would also like to extend my special thanks to Professor Bansidhar Pradhan for his suggestions and comments to make this work presentable. Members of the staff of several libraries in New Delhi were kind to me in locating the relevant material for my research. These libraries include Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA),