By Enyichukwu Enemanna
At least 13 African Ministers of Defence are expected to take part in the India-Africa Defence Dialogue scheduled to take place on Tuesday October 18 on the sidelines of the 12th DefExpo in Gandhinagar, India.
A release by the Indian defence ministry said that the meeting “will explore new areas of convergence for mutual engagement, including in areas like capacity building, training, cyber security, maritime security and counter-terrorism”.
The dialogue seeks to increase India-Africa defence engagement, to foster relations that will enable African countries to see New Delhi as potential defence procurement market. This dialogue first took place in Lucknow in 2020.
Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh will be addressing the dialogue which will have in attendance Angola, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Central African Republic, Mauritania, Madagascar, Botswana, Gambia, Ghana, Cabo Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe and South Africa. The 13 countries will participate at the defence ministers level.
All in all, 37 African countries will be participating at the meeting, seven at deputy ministerial level, and the rest 19 at top officials’ level.
At the deputy ministers level, countries such as Liberia, South Sudan, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Eswatini and Uganda will participate.
Egypt, Eswatini, Morocco, Comoros, Congo, Niger, Kenya, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Mali, Guinea, Seychelles, Somalia, Uganda and Zambia will participate at the top officials’ level.
India has been increasing its defence engagement with the continent in several ways, with focus on New Delhi being the sole destination for the defence requirement needs of Africa, especially on equipment.
Egypt has expressed interest in India’s Tejas light combat aircraft. This year saw a key visit by Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh to the country with a key focus on developing military cooperation, joint training, defence co-production and maintenance of equipment.
India sees Egypt as a hub for maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) for Tejas aircraft for the larger African continent.
Under the security cooperation, India has increased its efforts like setting up of Defence Academies and Colleges and deployment of training teams in several African countries.
It has been associated with the establishment of defence institutions in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Tanzania and in the past, Indian training teams have worked with their counterparts in Botswana, Lesotho, Zambia, Uganda, and Namibia.
In 2019, during the visit of Singh to Mozambique, two Indian-made fast interceptor boats (FIBs) were handed to the Mozambican Navy. The boats are being used by the East African country for coastal surveillance.
