DefExpo 2022 paves the way for a new golden era of India-Africa defence cooperation

The DefExpo 2022 took place in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, between 18 and 22 October 2022. Initially scheduled to take place in March 2022, it was postponed due to logistic challenges. During the meeting, the magnitude of India’s flagship Land, Naval, and Homeland Security Systems exhibition ensured that DefExpo 2022 became the most extensive defence exhibition in Asia. The event brought together the nation’s all high-end weapons and defence platforms under one roof. As a matter of fact, this was the first event solely dedicated to showcasing Made-in-India marquee products. There were over 1,000 exhibitors registered, the maximum number of exhibitors in the history of DefExpo. Furthermore, as another highlight of the mega-event, the local IIT Delhi start-up Botlabs (an iDEX winner) displayed the largest drone show ever.

India-Africa Defence Ministers’ Conference

On the sidelines of DefExpo 2022, the second edition of the India-Africa Defence Dialogue (IADD) took place. In February 2020, parallel to the 11^th DefExpo, the first India-Africa Defence Ministers’ Conference (IADMC) was held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The creation of the IADMC led to the successful institutionalisation of defence cooperation between the two continents. During the summit, the Government of India decided to institutionalise the India-Africa Defence Dialogue as a side event alongside the DefExpo.

Now, the second IADD that was attended by fifty African countries, including twenty Defence Ministers, seven CDS/Service Chiefs and eight Permanent Secretaries reflects the high priority accorded to India-Africa engagement in defence and security. The dialogue effectively highlighted several facets of the IADD’s theme of the event, “India-Africa: Adopting Strategy for Synergizing and Strengthening Defence and Security Cooperation”.

In his keynote address, the Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh described the IADD’s central theme as the shared determination of African and Indian nations to investigate new frontiers in defence cooperation, such as capacity building, training, cyber security, maritime security, and counterterrorism. He duly emphasised the strong relationship between India and Africa, which is founded on the regional framework of cooperation known as “SAGAR” (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and inspired by the traditional spirit of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (The World is One Family). Additionally, he engaged in bilateral discussions with several of his counterparts from African countries, such as Mauritania, Gambia, and the Central African Republic (CAR).

As an IADD 2022 result document, “Gandhinagar Declaration” calling for enhancing collaboration in the area of training in all areas of shared interest was also endorsed. Defence Minister Singh made the event’s most significant announcement when he launched the “India-Africa Security Fellowship Programme.” The Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) will host the fellowship. The fellows would receive some stipend while working in MP-ISSA for a time period of one to three months.

India’s Defence Agreements with Africa

The Ministry of Defence targets to achieve exports worth Rs 35,000 crore by 2025, up from last year’s Rs 13,000 crore. Clearly, Africa will play a significant role in it. In his address to the Ugandan Parliament in July 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined the ten guiding principles of India’s engagement with Africa. Principle seven of India’s development cooperation explicitly targets developing partnerships in combating terrorism and promoting peacekeeping and cyber security. And keeping his promises, in the last 4-5 years, the security cooperation between India and Africa has indeed become a significant area of collaboration, generating unprecedented opportunities.

Albeit, India-African defence cooperation has a long and rich history. India has opened defence Academies and Colleges in several African nations, including the Naval War College in Nigeria, the Military Academy in Ethiopia, and the Ghanaian Air Force. India has also dispatched training teams to several African nations. These military training units have cooperated with their corresponding equivalents in Botswana, Lesotho, Zambia, Uganda, Namibia, Tanzania, Mauritius, and Seychelles.

Additionally, India has taken part in nearly all the African missions so far and has been a part of UN peacekeeping operations (UNPKO) since the first UN Mission in the Congo. India is currently the fourth-largest supplier of soldiers to PKO in Africa. Since independence, India has sent about 200,000 troops and police officers to serve with blue helmets. Currently, 4,483 Indian soldiers are engaged in peacekeeping operations in the following five African countries: Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Congo, and Morocco.

India also deployed an all-female police force to Liberia in 2007 as part of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). In the history of UN peacekeeping, this was the first all-female police squad. The women in the force were praised as role models for their exemplary nine years of service. They also helped to increase the number of women serving in the security forces in Liberia and beyond.

Furthermore, India has forged strong relationships with African nations thanks to its unique offers for training African military professionals at important Indian institutes like the NDA, IMA, DSSC, and NDC. Because of the professionally designed, yet apolitical training programmes of the Indian Army, these courses are well appreciated in Africa. Today, there are several army officers in various African countries who received their training from India. H.E. Buhari, the current president of Nigeria, attended Wellington’s Defence Services Staff College in Tamil Nadu.

In recent years, India has actively assisted Africa in its attempts to combat terrorism, maintain peace, and strengthen cybersecurity. Africa-India Field Training Exercise-2019 (AFINDEX-19), India’s first-ever joint exercise with African nations, took place in Pune in March 2019. The first iteration of the exercise had participation from 17 African countries in total. The AFINDEX-19 exercise was created to assist participating nations in organising and carrying out peacekeeping and humanitarian mine action (HMA) operations.

India’s maritime cooperation with African nations, particularly those in the East & Southern African region, is also growing. With the Navy of Brazil and South Africa, the Indian Navy took part in Exercise IBSAMAR-VI in South Africa in 2018. Additionally, as part of the exercise, Indian ships were stationed at Seychelles, Mauritius, Reunion, Madagascar, and Comoros nations in the Southern Indian Ocean Region. The Indian Navy also took part in the VARUNA exercise on Reunion Island. Since September 2022, INS Tarkash has been on operational deployment in the crucial Gulf of Guinea on the West Coast of Africa. After visiting Togo and Nigeria, the ship is currently stationed at Gabon, the first ever visit by an Indian Navy ship to Gabon.

For naval forces, the Indian Navy also holds the biannual Milan Exercise. After a four-year hiatus, Milan 2022 was held in March 2022 and featured participation from nearly 40 nations and 26 ships. This year, as an aftereffect of the widespread pandemic, many African countries withdrew. However, African nations like Kenya, Mauritius, and Seychelles took part.

The future of India-Africa Defence Cooperation

India has come a long way from licence production in 1960 to its current 5^th generation weaponry. During the previous eight years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, India has prioritised the production of defence goods. And today, India has successfully positioned itself as an emerging defence manufacturing powerhouse, with numerous international orders being won by Indian companies in recent years.

In January 2022, India and the Philippines agreed to the export of the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile for $375 million. The size of this defence export was unprecedented in independent India’s history. In order to improve its military capability, the Philippines has also expressed interest in purchasing Tejas light combat aircraft and advanced light helicopters (ALH) made in India. Many other Southeast Asian nations, including Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia, may express interest in purchasing defence products made in India.

Defence cooperation must be prioritised in the strategic alliance between India and Africa. Indeed, both continents have a long-term strategic need for military diplomacy. Over the years, India’s defence and security cooperation approach has remained natural and based on ground requirements. It emphasises the empowerment of African counterparts through training, capacity building, and humanitarian aid. India’s naval capabilities have become the “new frontier” in providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR). India has a significant cost advantage over Africa’s conventional security partners.

The IADD successfully brought out India’s vision 2047. This was perfectly in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of transforming India into a powerful and independent country by promoting, showcasing, and establishing alliances for the country’s aerospace and defence manufacturing industries with domestic as well as international clients. DefExpo 2022 demonstrated the strength of India’s defence manufacturing sector, which is now fuelling the government’s and the country’s overall drive “Make in India, Make for the World”. The time is opportune to take this India Africa Defence cooperation to the next level.

The author is Research Associate with the Vivekananda International Foundation. The views expressed are personal.

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Samir Bhattacharya