The Indian Army will be hosting the first-ever India-Africa Chiefs Conclave in Pune on March 28. As part of its outreach to African nations, the conclave will be attended by Army chiefs from 25 African countries. The event will focus on enhancing peace and security between India and Africa and creating opportunities for exchanging ideas and perspectives. The Indian Defence Ministry, Foreign Ministry, and Service HQs will participate in the conclave.
According to a top Indian Army official, the first India-Africa Chiefs Conclave is a landmark event that will provide a fillip to the cooperation between the Indian Army and the armies of African Nations. “The objective of holding this conclave is to continue building upon the initiatives taken to strengthen India – Africa relations, with a focus on enhancing peace and security and creating opportunities to exchange ideas and perspectives,” the official further said. He also noted that some senior veterans would be in attendance at the conclave.
The conclave will take place in two sessions, where the first session will focus on exploring the key pillars of India-Africa Defence Partnership, and the second session will focus on the Indian Defence Industry’s Outreach to Africa. The conclave will be attended by Army chiefs from 21 African nations, including Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda, Estawini, Morocco, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Ethiopia, Central African Republic, Lesotho, and Senegal.
In addition, the armies of India and 20 African nations will conduct their second edition of the Africa-India field training exercise (AFINDEX) from March 21 in Pune.
The 10-day exercise has been divided into four phases, with the trainers being trained, followed by a Humanitarian Mine Action and a Peace Keeping Operations Phase. The forces will also conduct a validation exercise to assess the results of the training conducted during the drills, which will be witnessed by the Army chiefs from African nations. Nine contingents with 78 personnel will participate in the exercise, comprising Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Niger, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Additionally, 11 countries will be sending a total of 21 Observers to the exercise. These countries are Botswana, Cameroon, Congo, Egypt, Eswatini/Swaziland, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Zimbabwe, and Morocco.