Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday held extensive talks with his visiting Tanzanian counterpart Stergomena Lawrence Tax to boost bilateral military-to-military cooperation in sync with India’s broader priority to deepen strategic ties with Africa.
In the discussions, the two defence ministers also explored new avenues for defence and industrial cooperation to further strengthen bilateral engagements, officials said.
Following the talks, Singh said India and Tanzania share the same strategic space and New Delhi considers the African nation as a “major Western Indian Ocean Player”.
“Reviewed the full range of India-Tanzania defence ties during the fruitful meeting with the Tanzanian Defence Minister, Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax in New Delhi. India & Tanzania share the same strategic space. India considers Tanzania as a major Western Indian Ocean Player,” he tweeted.
“There is immense scope to boost defence and military-to-military cooperation between both the countries. I am confident India-Tanzania partnership will continue to grow over the coming decades, taking the bilateral relations to greater height,” Singh added.
In the last few years, India has been focusing on expanding overall cooperation with the African continent including in areas of defence and security.
According to official data, India’s cumulative investments in Africa stand at USD 70 billion (one billion =100 crores) while it has extended Lines of Credits (LoCs) worth USD 12.26 billion to the continent. PTI MPB DV
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(This story has not been edited by FAIDAMAX and is auto-generated from PTI)