India, Tanzania agree on cooperation between air forces

New Delhi: India and Tanzania have discussed a broad range of areas for boosting defence collaboration, including military training and maritime security, during a key bilateral meeting, officials said on Tuesday.

Both sides agreed to "initiate cooperation" between their air forces, complementing the existing cooperation between the two navies and armies, the defence ministry said.

The fourth edition of the Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) meeting between India and Tanzania was held in Zanzibar from February 2-3, it said.


"Both countries reviewed ongoing defence cooperation and discussed a broad range of areas for further collaboration, including military training, service-to-service cooperation, maritime security and defence industry collaboration," it said in a statement.


The two sides also "explored new avenues" such as counter-terrorism, peacekeeping training, and capacity building in niche areas, including electronic warfare, cyber, and artificial intelligence, with a view to further strengthen bilateral defence ties, the ministry said.

Cooperation in military medicine was identified as a "potential new area of cooperation", the officials said.

At the JDCC meeting, the Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary (Defence Cooperation) Amitabh Prasad and comprised senior officials from the Department of Defence and the Indian defence forces.

The Tanzanian delegation was led by Ibrahim Mhona, Chief of Operations and Training, Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF), the statement said.

The High Commissioner of India to Tanzania, Bishwadip Dey, also attended the meeting.

India and Tanzania share a close, warm, and strategic partnership. Defence cooperation between the two countries is guided by a "five-year roadmap", the statement said.