With the objective of further strengthening defence and strategic ties, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will host his counterparts from African nations in the next India– Africa Defence Dialogue on the sidelines of the DefExpo to be held at Gandhinagar, Gujarat in March next year.
The broad theme of this India Africa Defence Dialogue will be ‘India – Africa: Adopting Strategy for Synergizing and Strengthening Defence and Security Cooperation, ’ defence ministry officials said here on Monday.
India and Africa share a close and historical relationship. The foundation of India–Africa defence relations are based on the two guiding principles namely ‘SAGAR’, Security and Growth for All in the Region’ and ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, The World is One Family.
The first-ever India Africa Defence Ministers Conclave (IADMC) was held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh in conjunction with DefExpo in February last year co-organised by the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of External Affairs.
This was the first in the series of Pan Africa events at the Ministerial level in the run-up to India Africa Forum Summit IV. A Joint Declaration, ‘Lucknow Declaration’ was adopted after conclusion of IADMC 2020 as an outcome document of the Conclave.
In furtherance of the declaration and in consultation with stakeholders, India proposes to institutionalise the India Africa Defence Dialogue during successive DefExpos to be held once every two years. Institutionalisation of the India Africa Defence Dialogue will help building on the existing partnerships between African countries and India and to explore new areas of convergence for mutual engagements including areas like capacity building, training, cyber security, maritime security and counter terrorism.
It was also decided that Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses(IDSA) shall be the knowledge partner of India Africa Defence Dialogue and will assist in providing necessary support for enhanced defence cooperation between India and Africa.