The India-Africa Defence Dialogue (IADD) was held on the sidelines of DefExpo 2022 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on October 18.
Key Points
- 20 Defence Ministers, seven CDS and Service Chiefs and eight Permanent Secretaries representing fifty African countries participated in the Dialogue.
- The dialogue successfully brought out various aspects of the IADD’s theme ‘Adopting Strategy for Synergizing and Strengthening Defence and Security Cooperation’ .
- The Defence Minister described the Indo-African ties as multi-faceted covering economic, diplomatic and defence domains.
- He highlighted that India and Africa share a robust partnership, which is based on the cooperative framework of ‘SAGAR’ (Security and Growth for All in the Region), drawn upon the ancient ethos of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (The World is One Family).
- The Gandhinagar Declaration was adopted as an outcome document of IADD 2022.
- The declaration proposes to enhance cooperation in the field of training in all areas of mutual interest by increasing training slots and deputation of training teams, empowerment and capability building of the defence forces of Africa, participation in exercises and humanitarian assistance during natural disasters.
- India offered fellowship for experts from African countries through Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis.
- Fifty African countries, including 20 Defence Ministers, seven CDS/Service Chiefs and eight Permanent Secretaries participated in the Dialogue attesting to the high priority accorded to India-Africa engagement in defence and security.
- The IADD was institutionalised to be held biennially during successive DefExpos. It seeks to build on the existing defence partnerships between African countries & India and to explore new areas of convergence for mutual engagements including areas such as capacity building, training, cyber security, maritime security and counter-terrorism.
