Traditionally the West tried to exploit the African continent via ethical or unethical means both in colonial and post-colonial times. This made the Union aversive towards the Western hands. China which emerged as a potential friend in the East, too tried to impose an unfair influence by various debt traps and shady dealings. In contrast to that, India has always been transparent and cooperative when it comes to African countries. It always promoted mutual development and advocated for the continent’s just representation in various global forums.
In this article, we will explore India Africa Defence Cooperation.
India Africa Defence Cooperation
Joint Army Chiefs Conclave (March 2023)
India and Africa conducted their first-ever joint Army Chiefs Conclave on March 28, 2023. The conclave was divided into two sessions where the first session explored the key pillars of India and Africa’s Defence Partnership, while the second session focused on the Indian Defence Industry’s Outreach to Africa. This conclave was held alongside the second edition of the Africa-India Field Training Exercise (AFINDEX), which aimed to strengthen confidence-building and military relationships between the Armed Forces of India and Africa.
India-Africa Defence Dialogue (IADD)
India-Africa Defence Dialogue held on the sidelines of DefExpo in Gandhinagar, Gujarat in the year 2022. Adopting a Strategy for Synergizing and Strengthening Defence and Security Cooperation and exploring new areas of convergence for mutual engagements including capacity building, training, cyber security, maritime security and counter-terrorism, were the key discussion points of this event. The increment of joint practice exercise, defence research fellowship and several defence deals along with joint effort for humanitarian assistance marked the success of the event. Apart from that India extended concessional loans of over USD 12.3 billion and granted USD 700 million in assistance. India has completed 197 projects, 65 more are currently under execution, and 81 are at the pre-execution stage that were undertaken during the summit.
Training & Capacity Building
Under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program, India engages in military-to-military cooperation activities with almost one-third of the 54 African nations. Training covers various fields such as security and strategic studies, defence management, engineering, logistics, and quality assurance services. The ITEC has devoted more than a third of its accounts to African countries in four areas: capacity building, project assistance, scholarships, and institution-building. It has trained over 200,000 civilian and defence professionals from 160 countries—mostly in Africa.
Defence Academies and Colleges
India has established defence academies and colleges in Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Tanzania and deployed teams for training in Botswana, Namibia, Uganda, Lesotho, Zambia, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Tanzania.
Defence Exports
According to the Indian Ministry of Defence’s 2023 year-end report major defence exports were facilitated between India and African nations to decrease the dependency of the continent on Western weapon manufacturers. These include Dornier-228, 155 mm Advanced Towed Artillery Guns, Brahmos Missiles, Akash Missile System, Radars, Simulators, Mine Protected Vehicles, Armoured Vehicles, PINAKA Rockets & Launchers, Ammunitions, Thermal Imagers, Body Armours, besides Systems, Line Replaceable Units and Parts & components of Avionics and Small Arms.
Apart from these, India’s SAGAR initiative, joint navy exercises and Joint capacity-building exercises are also bolstering India-Africa maritime defence relations.