New Delhi: With India elevating its relationship with Tanzania to that of a ‘Strategic Partnership’, the East African nation is set to play a key role in New Delhi’s engagements with that part of the world. A joint statement issued following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Monday stated that “the strategic partnership will help the two countries to jointly work on issues like maritime security, defence cooperation, development partnership, trade and investment among others”.
This comes close on the heels of a flurry of diplomatic and defence cooperation activities between two sides in recent time. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Tanzania in July this year during which the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) opened its first overseas campus in Zanzibar. Earlier this month, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Manoj Pande went for a four-day official visit to Tanzania. During the visit, he met Tanzanian Defence Minister Stregomena Lawerence Tax and Chief of Defence Force Gen Jacob John Mkunda. In June this year, the second meeting of the India-Tanzania Joint Defence Cooperation Committee was held in Arusha, Tanzania. President Hassan’s current visit to India also comes after the African Union was made a permanent member of the G20 during the annual summit of the inter-governmental forum held in New Delhi last month.
So, why has Tanzania emerged as such an important partner for India?
“We have political and historical ties that date back to a long time,” Ruchita Beri, consultant at the Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses and who is an expert on Africa, told ETV Bharat. “There are a large number of people of Indian origin living in Tanzania. Many of these people had emigrated from Gujarat.”
Describing Tanzania as a relatively stable country, Beri said that the East African country was keen to upgrade its relationship with India for a long time. “We share oceanic space. We are maritime neighbours. We are members of the IORA (Indian Ocean Rim Association),” she said.
Pointing out that there have been frequent high-level visits from Tanzania to India, Beri said that New Delhi too was equally interested in elevating the partnership.
“There has been a lot of progress in defence partnership. The two countries have decided to develop a five-year roadmap for enhancing the defence partnership,” she stated. According to the joint statement, during the course of Prsident Hassan’s visit, the Tanzanian side appreciated the deployment of the Indian Military Training Team (IMTT) at the Command and Staff College in Duluti.
“Considering the successful hosting of the Defence Expos twice in Dar-es-Salaam on May 31, 2022, and October 2, 2023, which saw participation of several Indian defence companies, both sides expressed interests in expanding cooperation in the area of Defence industry,” it stated. “The two leaders also expressed pleasure at the progress of cooperation between the two sides towards the capacity building of the Tanzanian forces as well as industry.”
Given New Delhi’s strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific, a region that stretches from the east coast of Japan to the east coast of Africa, maritime cooperation is an important aspect of the bilateral ties between India and Tanzania, India is part of a Quad that also comprises the US, Japan and Australia which is working for a free and open Indo-Pacific in the face of China’s hegemony in the region.
According to the joint statement, “acknowledging that India and Tanzania are maritime neighbours who face common maritime security challenges, the two sides agreed to enhance cooperation in maritime security in the Indian Ocean region”.
Cooperation in the Blue Economy is also an important aspect of this. “The Tanzanian side expressed interest to cooperate with the Government of India in the field of Blue economy including tourism, maritime trade, services and infrastructure, marine scientific research, capacity in seabed mining, ocean conservation and maritime safety and security,” the statement read.
Having Tanzania as a strategic partner will also give India easy access to other landlocked countries in East Africa. In fact, the headquarters of the East African Community are located in Arusha, Tanzania.
Beri said that India is also an important developmental aid and capacity building partner of Tanzania. “The highest number of students coming from East Africa on Indian government scholarships are from Tanzania,” she said.
As part of its commitment to the Global South, India this time also announced 1,000 additional Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) scholarships for Tanzania to be used over a five-year period in new and emergent fields like smart ports, space, biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence and aviation management. According to the joint statement, Tanzania also appreciated India’s development partnership assistance in the areas of water, health, education, capacity building, scholarships and information and communication technology (ICT) among others.
India and Tanzania also share a vibrant economic, commercial and business ties. India is the third largest trading partner of Tanzania with bilateral trade of $4.58 billion in 2021-22. India is among the top five investment sources in Tanzania according to the Tanzania Investment Centre with Indian investments adding up to $3.68 billion. Major Indian companies operating in Tanzania include Airtel, Tata Africa Holdings, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kamal Group, Kalpataru, Tanzindia, Larsen & Toubro, Afcons, Hester Biosciences, Mahashree Agro and Purandare Industries.
Having a strategic partner in a geopolitically important area like the east coast of the Indian Ocean will also help India counter Chinese inroads in the African continent.
