In a first phase, India will deploy defense attachés in several countries, with a focus on Africa, with the aim of strengthening strategic ties and military diplomacy amid China’s growing efforts to expand its influence in African nations.
New Delhi will appoint new defense attachés to the African countries of Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Mozambique and Djibouti. This decision is in line with India’s priority to expand its strategic engagement with the continent, news agency PTI reported.
This will be the second time India will deploy an envoy to Djibouti, which is of maritime importance due to its border with the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Many African countries have already expressed keen interest in acquiring Indian military platforms, equipment and hardware, the PTI report added.
Additionally, India will post defense attachés in the Philippines, Armenia and Poland as well. New Delhi is also planning to streamline its teams of military officials at its embassy in Moscow and the high commission in London, PTI reported. Some of the defense attachés assigned to these nations are to be deployed to other regions as part of the rationalization process.
As many as 16 defense attachés of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force will soon take up their new posts, PTI reported.
INDIA’S DEVELOPMENT LINKS WITH AFRICA
In recent years, India has established itself at the forefront of highlighting the concerns, challenges and aspirations of the Global South or developing countries, particularly the African continent.
India’s relationship with Africa has seen an upward trend amid China’s continued efforts to expand its influence in Africa. The inclusion of the 55-nation African Union as a permanent member of the G20 was seen as a major milestone in India’s chairmanship of the group of 20 major economies of the world last year.
Last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that her countries The Global South feels for each other on many issues. Addressing an event during his visit to Tokyo, the minister highlighted India’s leadership in the Global South and cited two meetings he convened to hear various concerns of 125 countries, even as he hit out at China for bypassing them.
“On many issues, these countries feel for each other. The feeling has been heightened by Covid because many countries in the Global South felt they were last in line to get the vaccine. They even felt it at the time India became chairman of the G20 that their concerns were not even on the agenda of the G20,” Jaishankar told the Nikkei Forum on India-Japan Cooperation in Tokyo.
He also stated that the Global South does not consider it a “coincidence” that “under the Indian chairmanship the African Union, which had long been promised a seat in the G20, got a seat”. “That’s how the Global South believes us,” he said.
STRENGTHENING TIES WITH THE PHILIPPINES, POLAND, ARMENIA
India is also considering further expanding defense ties with the Philippines against growing global concerns over China’s growing military capability in the South China Sea.
These two countries have also seen a boost in their relations in recent years. In January 2022, India signed a $375 million deal with the Philippines to supply three missile batteries, PTI reported.
India’s decision to appoint a defense attaché to Armenia came as the country, located in the Caucasus region and a former Soviet member, shows keen interest in deepening ties with the Asian nation. In 2023, an arms deal was signed to supply Indian military hardware, including multiple-barreled missile launchers to Armenia.
The decision to post a defense attache to European Union (EU) member Poland reflects India’s desire to expand two-way defense ties, PTI reported. Last year, the EU deployed a military attache to its mission in India for the first time.