Category: Foreign Affairs

• “Indian defence sector at the cusp of a major revolution under ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, knowledge sharing would help strengthen bilateral ties”

New Delhi, 7^th June 2023. The High Commission of India in Colombo organised ‘India – Sri Lanka Defence Seminar cum Exhibition’ on June 07, 2023. The exhibition was inaugurated by State Minister of Defence of Sri Lanka Mr Premitha Bandara Tennakoon. A large number of industries from both the countries participated in the exhibition and showcased their products.

Addressing the gathering through a video message, Defence Secretary Shri Giridhar Aramane described Sri Lanka as India’s priority partner, stating that as part of its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, New Delhi stands committed to ensuring capacity & capability building of the Armed Forces of the neighboring country. He termed Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) as the underlying theme of India’s maritime policy. This vision is rooted in advancing cooperation within the region through inclusivity and using India’s capability to benefit its friendly countries in the common maritime neighbourhood.

Shri Giridhar Aramane highlighted the common security challenges faced in the Indian Ocean Region such as terrorism, piracy, drugs & arms trafficking and illegal migration. He called for enhanced and active collaboration to deal with these challenges with the aim to create a safer environment.

The Defence Secretary emphasised that the Indian defence sector stands at the cusp of a major revolution and the focus is to establish a robust R&D and indigenous manufacturing ecosystem, while fostering innovation and entrepreneurship under the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative. He underlined that knowledge sharing in these areas would help strengthen ties between the two countries.

Sri Lanka is one of India’s major development partners and this is an important pillar of bilateral ties. The Government of India has extended a US$ 150 million Defence Line of Credit to the Government of Sri Lanka. Out of this, US$ 100 million credit has been utilised.

• Review the robust defence cooperation activities; Focus on co-development of new technologies and co-production
• Roadmap concluded for US-India Defence Industrial Cooperation for next few years

New Delhi, 5th June 2023. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh held a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of Defence Mr Lloyd Austin in New Delhi on June 05, 2023. The meeting was warm and cordial. The two sides discussed a substantial range of bilateral defence cooperation issues, with particular focus on identifying ways to strengthen industrial cooperation.

The two Ministers explored ways of building resilient supply chains. Both sides will identify opportunities for co-development of new technologies and co-production of existing & new systems and facilitate increased collaboration between defence start-up ecosystems of the two countries. Towards these objectives, they concluded a roadmap for US-India Defence Industrial Cooperation which shall guide the policy direction for the next few years.

Both sides reviewed the robust and multifaceted bilateral defence cooperation activities and agreed to maintain the momentum of engagement. They welcomed the inaugural dialogues held recently focusing on Defence Artificial Intelligence and Defence Space. They also discussed the regional security issues given their shared interest in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

Senior officials from Ministry of Defence, including Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Defence Secretary Shri Giridhar Aramane and Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Dr Samir V Kamat, participated in the meeting.

The delegation-level talks were preceded by a Tri-Service Guard of Honour to Secretary Austin. The US Secretary of Defence arrived in New Delhi on June 04, 2023 on a two-day visit.

New Delhi, 29th May 2023. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh attended the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect of Nigeria Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Abuja on May 29, 2023. In addition to senior officials of Ministry of Defence, the Raksha Mantri’s delegation to Nigeria included top executives of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL). These executives held a series of meetings with Nigerian military and Government representatives for identifying their requirements which can be fulfilled by the Indian Defence companies. B-to-B meetings were held with Nigerian companies for enhancing cooperation.

Besides high-level political representation from countries across the African continent, including several Heads of State, India was among the select non-African nations that were represented in the ‘swearing-in ceremony’ at Ministerial level, reflecting the high priority and strength of our bilateral relations with Nigeria.

Shri Rajnath Singh also had a brief meeting with the Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperative of Bangladesh Mr Md Tazul Islam who was also in Abuja to attend the swearing-in ceremony. The meeting was a testimony of the bonhomie between India and Bangladesh and the two leaders expressed the commitment of their respective Governments towards further expanding and strengthening the bilateral ties.

New Delhi, 27th May 2023. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh will visit Nigeria between May 28-30, 2023 to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the President-elect of the West African nation Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Shri Rajnath Singh will attend the swearing-in ceremony at Eagle Square in Abuja on 29^th May. He will also meet the outgoing Nigerian President Mr Muhammadu Buhari during a reception hosted by him on 28^th May.

This will be the first-ever visit of an Indian Defence Minister to Nigeria. The Raksha Mantri’s visit will be an important landmark in building the strong bonds of friendship between the two countries. Considering the growing defence cooperation between India & Nigeria, senior officers of Ministry of Defence and top leadership of important Defence PSUs will accompany Shri Rajnath Singh. They will hold meetings with the representatives from the Nigerian industry and the Armed Forces to identify the equipment and platforms, through which the Indian defence industry can support the country’s requirements.

Nigeria is home to an estimated 50,000 members of the Indian community. The Raksha Mantri will address the Indian diaspora at Abuja during the visit.

New Delhi, 31st March 2023. 4^th Joint Defence Cooperation Committee meeting between India and the Philippines was held in New Delhi on March 31, 2023. The Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defence Shri Amitabh Prasad, while the Philippines delegation was headed by Assistant Secretary for Strategic Assessments and International Affairs, Department of National Defence Mr Pablo M Lorenzo.

During the meeting, both sides reviewed the ongoing bilateral defence cooperation and discussed effective and practical initiatives to further expand the engagements. The co-chairs reaffirmed their commitment to implement 2006 agreement concerning defence cooperation, based on mutual trust and understanding, common interest and shared values of democracy and rule of law.

Both sides agreed to initiate measures to enhance cooperation in Defence Industry and Technology domain and look forward to greater synergy in effectively deepening bilateral cooperative engagements across the spectrum. They discussed cooperation in multilateral forums and noted complementarities in their approaches to the Indo-Pacific region and decided to hold regular consultations on issues of mutual interest. The interest and enthusiasm towards strengthening the bilateral relations across sectors were appreciated.