Rajnath Singh To Hosts India-Africa Defence Dialogue In Gandhinagar

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will host the defence ministers of African countries during the India-Africa Defence Dialogue (IADD) on Tuesday.

The meeting is to be held on the sidelines of the 12th Defence Expo in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The broad theme of the dialogue will be is strengthening defence and security cooperation between India and African nations including capacity building, training, cyber security, maritime security and counter-terrorism.

According to the defence ministry, India and Africa share close and historical ties and India’s approach towards Africa is guided by the Kampala Principles enunciated by PM Narendra Modi in 2018.

The first-ever India-Africa defence ministers conclave was held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh in conjunction with Defence Expo in February 2020 and a joint declaration – ‘Lucknow Declaration’ was adopted at the end of the conclave as an outcome document, ministry said in a statement. 

Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) is the knowledge partner for the India-Africa Defence Dialogue.