During Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s State Visit to India, the two countries agreed on a five-year defence roadmap and decided to elevate their ties to a “strategic partnership.”
Hassan, who is in India from 8-10 October, met Indian President Droupadi Murmu, Indian PM Narendra Modi, and External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar during her visit.
She was also conferred with an honorary doctorate by the Jawaharlal Nehru University for fostering stronger India-Tanzania ties.
Ceremonial Welcome, High-Level Meetings
On her visit, the Tanzanian president was accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Tanzanian Foreign Minister January Makamba and other senior government officials and business persons.
Upon her arrival, Indian EAM S Jaishankar called on the Tanzanian leader.
Landed in New Delhi for a state visit, at the invitation of India national leaders. To Tanzanians, India is our extended family, a strategic ally, and one of our largest bilateral trading partners. I am looking forward to a productive visit in expanding trade and investment… pic.twitter.com/1SRCEO6tCY
— Samia Suluhu (@SuluhuSamia) October 8, 2023
Hassan was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
She also visited the Rajghat to pay respect to Mahatma Gandhi and held bilateral talks with Indian President Droupadi Murmu, who hosted a state banquet in honour of Hassan.
Following this, the Tanzanian president held bilateral talks with Indian PM Narendra Modi on the second day of her visit.
She is scheduled to attend the India-Tanzania Business and Investment Forum on 10 October.
Agreements and MoUs
Various MoUs were signed between both countries during the visit.
This included MoUs on cooperation in sports, the maritime industry, setting up an industrial park in Tanzania, and sharing successful digital solutions for digital transformation.
The two sides also signed a technical agreement on sharing white shipping information and beginning a cultural exchange program between the two governments for 2023-2027.
A joint statement was released after the launch of the Strategic Partnership between the two nations.
Cooperation in Economy, Space Tech, Digital Public Infra
In his speech, Modi said, “Tanzania is India’s largest and closest development partner in Africa.”
In the joint statement, the two sides noted that the Reserve Bank of India has cleared the way for trade using local currencies and that transactions using this mechanism have already materialised.
The Indian side offered collaboration in space technologies and digital public infrastructure under India Stack, including the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Digital Unique Identity (Aadhar).
The two sides also expressed satisfaction with the $1.1 billion Lines of Credit extended by India to Tanzania, covering drinking water infrastructure, agriculture and defence.
Five-Year Defence Roadmap
The two leaders expressed satisfaction over signing a five-year Roadmap for Defence Cooperation between their countries in June.
Had an excellent meeting with President @SuluhuSamia. We reviewed the full range of India-Tanzania relations and have elevated our time-tested relation to a Strategic Partnership. The areas of our discussion included trade, commerce and people-to-people linkages. pic.twitter.com/ovGfUyDTa3
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 9, 2023
Speaking on the roadmap, Modi said, “It will add new dimensions to areas like military training, maritime cooperation, capacity building, and [the] defence industry.”
Clean Energy Sector, Counter-Terrorism
India and Tanzania have agreed to collaborate in the clean energy landscape, with the former welcoming the latter’s decision to join the Global Biofuel Alliance and the Big Cat Alliance.
India also expressed that it looked forward to Tanzania’s membership of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.
Modi said, “As nations connected through the Indian Ocean, we underscored the need for increased mutual coordination to face the challenges of maritime security, piracy, and drug trafficking.”
The two sides also agreed to cooperate in counter-terrorism and strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.