Monday Morning Meeting on Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh’s Visit to Egypt: Significance for India-Africa Defence Cooperation

At the Monday Morning Meeting held on 26 September 2022, Ms. Ruchita Beri, Senior Research Associate, MP-IDSA, spoke on the topic “Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh’s Visit to Egypt: Significance for India-Africa Defence Cooperation”. The session was moderated by Col. Manish Rana, SM, Research Fellow, MP-IDSA. Ambassador Sujan R. Chinoy, Director General, MP-IDSA, Maj. Gen. (Dr.) Bipin Bakshi (Retd.), Deputy Director General, MP-IDSA, all MP-IDSA scholars and interns attended and participated in the discussion.

Executive Summary

The meeting brought out the trajectory and various dimensions of the defence cooperation between India and Egypt. It highlighted the details and underscored the significance and underlying implications of Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh’s visit to Egypt on India-Africa Defence Cooperation. It was assessed that the three strands of India’s increasing defence cooperation with Africa include – signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on defence cooperation, increase in high-level defence-related visits and the institutionalisation of India-Africa defence cooperation in the form of the India-Africa Defence Dialogue (IADD). The session also drew attention to the various factors underlying Africa’s perception of India as a trusted defence partner. Africa’s importance in India’s Foreign Policy, the principles guiding India’s engagement with Africa and other aspects were also discussed in detail.

Detailed Report

The Moderater, Col. Manish Rana, began the session with his introductory remarks which highlighted India’s renewed focus on Africa and the role of China factor in India-Africa ties. He reflected on the earlier visits of the RM to African countries like Mozambique and ministerial high-level discussions with countries like Tanzania. He invited the speaker to share her insights on the recent visit of the RM to Egypt from 18-20 September 2022, factors driving the same and its significance for India-Africa defence cooperation.

The Speaker, Ms. Ruchita Beri, at the outset underscored that the RM’s visit to Egypt opened new avenues for defence cooperation not only with Egypt but also for India’s growing defence ties with other African nations. Her talk focused on the significance of Egypt for India, the importance of the MoU on furthering defence cooperation signed during the RM’s visit and the salience of his visit to India-Africa defence cooperation. Stating that historical and economic ties have fostered a political and strategic relationship between India and Egypt, she shed light on their cooperation in multilateral fora like the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and others.

Ms. Beri explained that defence cooperation between the two countries was not new and mentioned India’s training of Egyptian pilots, the joint venture with Egypt for manufacturing defence equipment and the Joint Defence Committee (JDC) set up in 2006 which has met six times. She assessed that the RM’s visit and the MoU signifies an increase in bilateral ties which has largely focused on the defence sector. She mentioned the joint tactical exercise ‘Desert Warrior’ held in October 2021, the visit of Indian defence companies to Egypt’s Defence Expo in 2021, the deployment of INS Kochi to Red Sea and its visit to Egyptian ports, and the visit of Egypt’s Air Force Chief to India in July 2022. She stated that the MoU primarily focused on defence indigenisation in the backdrop of “Make in India” and Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiatives. She also shed light on Egypt’s efforts in strengthening its ties with India such as the release of a postage stamp commemorating 75 years of the bilateral relationship.

The Speaker opined that there were three trends to the increasing defence cooperation between India and Africa. Firstly, the MoU signed with Egypt was the latest among many already signed with other African countries like the Indian Ocean littorals, Nigeria, Botswana and others. Second, the visit of the RM to Egypt is against the backdrop of an increase in defence-focused visits such as deputy National Security Advisor (NSA)’s visit to Tanzania and Mozambique. Third, it precedes the upcoming IADD scheduled for 18-22 October 2022 which seeks to build on existing partnerships. Stating that the IADD is expected to give a fillip to defence exports, she opined that although this could be true of the large countries, many African nations cannot afford to purchase these defence equipment and rely on the Lines of Credit (LOCs) provided by India.

Ms. Beri decoded the various factors underlying Africa’s perception of India as a trustworthy defence partner. These include common security challenges like terrorism, positive developments like the economic transformation of Africa, India’s commitment to the same which is evident in the fact that 40 per cent of India’s development assistance is for the African region and in India’s principles like Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. Another factor is the increase in Africa’s defence cooperation with other countries like Russia which is an important defence partner of the continent and China’s increasing visibility in the security sector seen in the 2021 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) which focused on defence cooperation with African countries. The Speaker concluded by reiterating the importance of Africa in India’s Foreign Policy and the ten guiding principles of India’s engagement with Africa envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She underscored that the increase in high-level visits would concretise India-Africa defence cooperation which is focused on empowering African countries.

Complimenting the Speaker’s talk, Ambassador Sujan R. Chinoy shared his insights on the topic. He observed that the roughly same trade volume of India and the African continent is a reflection of how geography mirrors one another on both sides of the shared oceanic space in terms of trade. While China has a huge trade presence in Africa, the US and its western allies have far greater investments in Africa. Against this backdrop, he assessed that India could do both – increase its trade with Africa as well as improve its investment presence in technology and space. Noting the good relations shared between India and Egypt, he reflected on their defence cooperation which began in the 1960s with a joint venture for developing the Helwan HA-300 combat jets. Stating that Egypt is the third largest importer of arms, he observed that it relies largely on US assistance for purchasing defence equipment and suggested that India could focus on where to fit in. Ambassador Chinoy also drew attention to the need for India to focus on an ‘all-of-government’ approach to increase its speed and scale of defence production capacity in order to become a large defence exporter.

In his remarks, Maj. Gen. (Dr.) Bipin Bakshi (Retd.) highlighted the issues on the sustainability of transfer of defence hardware without payment (preference for grants over LOCs) and the issue of maintenance of defence equipment. He underscored the need for India to plan mechanisms and funding for long-term support to some African countries for maintenance of the defence equipment they purchased from India. He also mentioned the opportunity for India to explore cooperation with third countries like France in Francophone Africa. He reiterated the issue of maintenance responsibility in India’s defence exports to African countries.

The session concluded with a lively Q/A session and discussion which shed light on important dimensions like the lack of and judicious use of capital in local supply chains, Egypt’s strategic priorities that drive its defence policy, cyber security cooperation between India and Africa and the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in the context of energy security cooperation and Africa’s Agenda 2063.

The report has been prepared by Ms. Sindhu Dinesh, Research Analyst, MP-IDSA.