The trust of African countries is the identity of the new India

No one should be underestimated. India has always been underestimated by western countries including America. But now India is going on writing a new story every day on the world stage. A few years ago, there was a time when India used to work largely dependent on other countries in every field, but of late, now we have understood the importance of self-reliance. Now the self-reliance campaign in the country has gained momentum in such a way that at present, it is not only making many things but also exporting it to other countries.
In the defense sector, India appears to be emerging as a major exporting country. In today’s time, India seems to be exporting its defense equipment to many countries. At the same time, many countries are standing in the queue to buy weapons from India. South Asian countries are constantly showing interest in buying arms with India. After this, now an East African country can become the next customer of Indian weapons.
Actually, Tanzania is also preparing to buy defense equipment from India. On Monday, 29 August, a Tanzanian delegation led by Tanzanian counterpart Dr. Sturgomena Lawrence Tax visited the manufacturing facilities of Bharat Dynamics Limited (Kashtru). According to the information given by BDL, senior officers of the Tanzanian Armed Forces, Indian Defense Advisors accredited to Tanzania and officials of the Ministry of Defense of India were also present during this period. Kashtru informed the Defense Minister of Tanzania about the products he is offering them for export.
According to a press release by BDL, the company includes anti-tank guided missiles, surface-to-air missiles, underwater weapons, drone-launched weapons to the African nation. In this regard, the tweet made by BDL said that “This visit will further strengthen the existing defense cooperation between India and Tanzania and promote the export of ‘Made in India’ defense products.”
Earlier on Friday, India and Tanzania have decided to set up a task force to prepare an action plan to enhance defense cooperation. The decision was taken during extensive talks between Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Tanzanian Defense Minister Sturgomena Lawrence Tax. The bilateral defense agreements and enhanced cooperation between the military will further strengthen the strategic ties between the two countries. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh also invited the Tanzanian counterpart to the India-Africa Defense Dialogue and Deaf Expo, which is scheduled to be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat from 18-22 October 2022.
In May, India’s Deputy National Security Advisor Vikram Misri visited Tanzania in May to strengthen defense ties with East African nations. During his visit, Misri had discussed a security partnership with Tanzania’s top leadership, including enhancing maritime security cooperation and discussing exports of Indian defense products to meet Tanzania’s defense needs. After this, now the Defense Minister of Tanzania came on a visit to India.
This shows the confidence of Africa in India that African countries are constantly making efforts to increase defense cooperation with India. The policy priorities and needs of African countries were given importance by India. To strengthen ties with Africa, India provided assistance such as education, health services, agriculture, defense and security, science and technology, capacity building and infrastructure development, and India’s efforts were highly appreciated.
Even during the Corona epidemic, India stood firmly with Africa. During the pandemic, both sides made it easy to repatriate their citizens present at each other’s country through special flights. Apart from this, when Corona wreaked havoc on Africa, India made efforts to provide Corona vaccine to African countries to the best of its ability.
$5 million in aid to 25 African countries and 39.65 million doses of indigenous COVID-19 vaccines to 42 African countries.
India’s Foreign Minister Dr. S Jaishankar had told that the bilateral trade between India and Africa has reached $ 89.5 billion during the year 2021-2022, which was only $ 56 billion till last year. Today, the share of India’s exports in Africa’s total global imports has reached 5.2 percent.
It is easy to understand from these developments that the ties between India and Africa are getting stronger. African countries are trying to improve relations by expressing their constant trust in India. Africa has always been beset with problems and at such times it needs a partner who can help it. India has been continuously helping African countries. Now Africa is set to become India’s next defense customer as well.