India -Africa Defence Dialogue

In conjunction with DefExpo 2022, the second India-Africa Defence Dialogue (IADD) was conducted in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

About The India-Africa Defence Dialogue:

Adopting a strategy to enhance and synergize defence and security cooperation is the theme.

• The Gandhinagar Declaration was approved as an IADD 2022 result document.
• By increasing training slots and deputising training teams, empowering and strengthening the defence forces of Africa, taking part in exercises, and providing aid during natural disasters, it seeks to improve collaboration in training in all areas of shared interest.
• A book on defence cooperation between India and Africa was also published.
• India-Africa Security Fellowship Program: IADD promoted additional study of security concerns by providing fellowships to professionals from African nations.

Ties between India and Africa:

Loan and Support for various infrastructure projects:

• Africa has received concessional loans from India totalling more than $12,3 billion USD.
• Additionally, India has provided grant aid of USD 700 million.
• India has already finished 197 projects; 65 more are being carried out, and 81 are in the planning stages.
• India has built the National Assembly building and worked on water supply, agricultural, and food processing projects in the Gambia.
• India is involved in the construction of prefabricated health posts, the supply of cars, and a significant hydropower project in Zambia.
• Recent noteworthy construction initiatives in Mauritius include the new Supreme Court, the metro express, and social housing.
• A brand-new IT centre of excellence has just started operations in Namibia.

Covid - 19 Assistance:

• India sent 150 tonnes of medical aid to 32 African nations.
• Many of them also used vaccines that were "Made in India," whether they were imported from India or not.
• India has joined forces to advocate for fair and inexpensive access to vaccinations in international fora, including through a TRIPS waiver.

Human Resources:

• During the third India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) in 2015, India announced 50,000 scholarships, of which more than 32,000 scholarship places have already been filled.
• The e-VidyaBharti and e-ArogyaBharti networks for tele-education and tele-medicine, respectively, were created in 2019 to offer partners high quality virtual education and medical services.

Assistance with relief efforts:

• includes Operation Sahayata, which will help Mozambique after Cyclone IDAI strikes in 2019, Operation Vanilla, which will aid flood victims in Madagascar in January 2020, and Mauritius' assistance in containing an oil spill caused by the grounding of the ship Wakashio.

Energy:

• A major organisation that has pushed the quick advancement of renewable energy technologies is the International Solar Alliance.
• The "One Sun One World One Grid" programme, which aims to further promote solar and renewable energy, came after this.
• Clean and green energy have taken centre stage in recent years in both third country partnerships as well as India's development programmes in Africa.

Trade and Economics:

• In 2021–2022, India's bilateral trade with Africa would be $89.5 billion, up from $56 billion the year before.
• India is one of the top five investors in Africa, with total investments in the continent totaling USD 73.9 billion from 1996 to 2021.
• India has opened its market to African nations under the Duty-Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) Scheme, which gives duty-free access to 98.2% of India's total tariff lines.
• 33 African Least Developed Countries (LDC) have so far been eligible to receive benefits under this programme.

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