By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: India is continuing to strengthen its relationships with African nations, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh scheduled to visit Nigeria between May 28-30.
Rajnath will attend the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu on May 29. He will also meet the outgoing Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari during a reception hosted by him on May 28.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) in a statement said, “This will be the first-ever visit of an Indian Defence Minister to Nigeria. The Defence Minister’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 and Nigeria, senior officers of the MoD and top leaders of important defence PSUs will accompany Rajnath.
“They will hold meetings with 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,” the MoD added.
Nigeria has an estimated 50,000 members of the Indian community. Rajnath will address the Indian diaspora at Abuja during the visit.
India has been taking initiatives to strengthen India-Africa ties. It hosted the first nine-day India-African Chiefs Conclave in Pune in March in which chiefs of over 20 African armies took part.
The inaugural Africa-India Field Training Exercise-2019 was also held in Pune, with 20 African nations participating. Continuing with India’s focus on strengthening the defence ties, a similar conclave was held on the sidelines of the DefExpo 2020 in Lucknow. The Lucknow Declaration was issued that laid down the future path of cooperation between India and African nations in the defence sphere. Building on the Lucknow declaration, the India-Africa defence dialogue was started at Gandhinagar on the sidelines of DefExpo 2022.
Fifty African countries, including 20 Defence Ministers, seven CDS/service chiefs and eight permanent secretaries participated in the dialogue attesting to the high priority accorded to India-Africa engagement in defence and security.
NEW DELHI: India is continuing to strengthen its relationships with African nations, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh scheduled to visit Nigeria between May 28-30.
Rajnath will attend the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu on May 29. He will also meet the outgoing Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari during a reception hosted by him on May 28.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) in a statement said, “This will be the first-ever visit of an Indian Defence Minister to Nigeria. The Defence Minister’s visit will be an important landmark in building the strong bonds of friendship between the two countries.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Considering the growing defence cooperation between India and Nigeria, senior officers of the MoD and top leaders of important defence PSUs will accompany Rajnath.
“They will hold meetings with 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,” the MoD added.
Nigeria has an estimated 50,000 members of the Indian community. Rajnath will address the Indian diaspora at Abuja during the visit.
India has been taking initiatives to strengthen India-Africa ties. It hosted the first nine-day India-African Chiefs Conclave in Pune in March in which chiefs of over 20 African armies took part.
The inaugural Africa-India Field Training Exercise-2019 was also held in Pune, with 20 African nations participating. Continuing with India’s focus on strengthening the defence ties, a similar conclave was held on the sidelines of the DefExpo 2020 in Lucknow. The Lucknow Declaration was issued that laid down the future path of cooperation between India and African nations in the defence sphere. Building on the Lucknow declaration, the India-Africa defence dialogue was started at Gandhinagar on the sidelines of DefExpo 2022.
Fifty African countries, including 20 Defence Ministers, seven CDS/service chiefs and eight permanent secretaries participated in the dialogue attesting to the high priority accorded to India-Africa engagement in defence and security.
