India and Tanzania Bilateral Relations

India and Tanzania Bilateral Relations

Why In News ?

The President of the United Republic of Tanzania undertook a State Visit to the Republic of India.

Political Relations

• Both sides noted with satisfaction, an increasing level of bilateral political engagement and strategic dialogue on regional and global issues including the vision for the Indo-Pacific and implementation of the Indian Ocean Rim Association’s Outlook on the lndo-Pacific. It was noted that India and Tanzania are maritime neighbours with a long history of trade and people to people linkages therefore Tanzania has an important place in India’s vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region). Both sides encouraged cooperation on the Indo-Pacific noting that the AU vision for peace and security in Africa with focus on development of Blue/ocean economy for accelerated economic growth coincides with SAGAR vision. They also welcomed Tanzania’s participation in the annual Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief (HADR) exercises in India for sharing of experiences to undertake rescue and relief operations during major natural calamities.
• Both sides agreed to continue with high-level political dialogue through the Joint Commission mechanism at the Foreign Ministers’ level and bilateral meetings between Leaders. Both sides agreed to initiate a Policy Planning Dialogue between their Foreign Ministries.

Defence Cooperation

• The two leaders expressed satisfaction over the successful 2nd Joint Defence Cooperation Committee meeting held in Arusha on 28th and 29th June 2023 resulting in a five-year Roadmap for Defence Cooperation between the two countries.
• Both sides recalled the successful visits of Defence Ministers of Tanzania to India in August 2022 and February 2023, during which both sides agreed to expand scope of defence cooperation. 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 31st May 2022 and 2nd October 2023 which saw participation of several Indian defence companies; both sides expressed interests in expanding cooperation in the area of Defence industry. 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.

Maritime security

• 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. They expressed satisfaction over the first ever India-Tanzania Joint Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) surveillance exercise conducted in July 2023 when the Indian Naval Ship Trishul visited Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam. They also noted that India and Tanzania held bilateral maritime exercise in October 2022 during the visit of the Indian Naval Ship Tarkash.
• The Tanzanian side appreciated the hydrographic surveys of Tanzanian major ports done by India in recent years. Thus, the two sides agreed to continue cooperation in this area.
• Both leaders looked forward to increased interoperability between their Armed Forces. They noted the regular port calls by the Indian ships to Tanzanian ports and appreciated the conduct of the maiden trilateral maritime exercise involving India, Tanzania and Mozambique in the Mozambique Channel during the visit of the Indian Naval Ship Tarkash in October 2022.
• The two leaders commended the signing of the Technical Agreement on sharing White Shipping Information between India and Tanzania.

Blue Economy

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. India and Tanzania agreed to cooperate under the framework of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) to ensure a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable Indian Ocean Region.

Trade and Investment

• The two sides expressed commitment to increase bilateral trade volumes and towards this end, directed the respective Officials to explore new areas of trade. It was further agreed that both sides should harmonise trade volume data and take initiatives to further enhance bilateral trade volumes by organizing visits of business delegations, business exhibitions and interaction with business communities.
• The Tanzanian side acknowledged that India is amongst the top five investment sources for Tanzania whereby 630 investment projects worth USD 3.74 billion have been registered and thus creating 60,000 new jobs. Both sides welcomed recent trends of renewed interest among Indian businesspersons for investment in Tanzania. Both sides agreed to explore the possibility of setting up of an Investment Park in Tanzania, Tanzanian side assured full support in this regard.
• The two leaders expressed desire to expand bilateral trade using Local currencies. They noted that Reserve Bank of India (Indian Central Bank) has cleared the way for trade using local currencies i.e. Indian Rupee (INR) & Tanzanian Shilling by allowing the authorized banks in India to open Special Rupee Vostro Accounts (SRVA) of correspondent banks of Tanzania and that transactions using this mechanism have already materialised. The two sides agreed to continue with the consultations in order to address any concerns so as to ensure sustainability of this arrangement.
• Both sides recognised that agriculture sector cooperation remains a strong pillar in the relations whereby 98% of product lines from Tanzania are imported tariff-free using India’s Duty Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) scheme. India remains a major destination for Tanzanian cashew nuts, pigeon peas, spices, avocado and other agricultural commodities. Both sides agreed to further revitalise cooperation in this sector.

Development Partnership

• Tanzania appreciated India’s development partnership assistance in the areas of Water, Health, Education, Capacity Building, Scholarships and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) among others.
• The two sides also expressed satisfaction on Lines of Credits (LoCs) extended by India to Tanzania that amount to over USD 1.1 billion covering fields of drinking water infrastructure, agriculture and defence. It was specifically noted that Water Projects in 24 towns of Tanzania worth USD 500 Million through a Line of Credit scheme are presently being implemented. Once completed, it would provide easy access to safe drinking water to about 6 million residents of these regions.
• The Tanzanian side appreciated that the Indian scholarship and capacity building program has tremendously contributed to its Human Resource development. India offers 450 Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) scholarships for capacity building and 70 Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarships for long term programmes in 2023-24. The Indian side announced the decision to increase the number of Long term scholarships (ICCR) from 70 to 85 for the year 2023-24. As part of its commitment to the Global South, India also announced 1000 additional ITEC slots for Tanzania to be used over a 5-year period in new and emergent fields like Smart Ports, Space, Biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence, Aviation Management, etc.

Education, Skill Development and Development of ICT

• The Indian side offered collaboration in areas of space technologies and digital public infrastructure under India Stack including Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Digital Unique Identity (Aadhar).
• The Tanzanian side welcomed Indian support for establishing a Vocational Training Centre (VTC) in Pemba, Zanzibar and designing courses based on the demands of the local market. The Indian side offered to set up vocational training institutions on the lines of Vocational Skilling Centres of India to provide training and skill enhancement to the Tanzanian youth.
• Tanzania commended the decision by India to set up two ICT Centres at Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology and at Nelson Mandela African Institute for Science & Technology (NMAIST) in Arusha. Tanzanian side also express its appreciation to India for upgrading the ICT centre in NM-AIST.

Space Cooperation

Tanzanian side congratulated the Indian side on the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 lander on the surface of the moon on 23 August, 2023.

The Indian side offered collaboration in area of space technologies to Tanzania, which was welcomed by the Tanzanian side.

Health

• Both sides reaffirmed the excellent cooperation in the health sector, noting the recent visit of Hon. Ummy Mwalimu (MP), Minister for Health of Tanzania to India in July 2023 and the visit of a joint delegation from India and UAE that visited Tanzania in August 2022 to scout for opportunities. Both sides agreed to work for further collaboration in the health sector.
• Tanzanian side appreciated the donation of 10 ambulances by the Government of India aimed at assisting in the provision of prompt medical care to patients and support to hospital infrastructure.
• Both sides also highlighted the excellent track record of bilateral cooperation in the implementation of grant projects including donation of radiation therapy machine, “Bhabhatron II”, essential medicines, an artificial limbs fitment camp organized in 2019 which benefited 520 Tanzanian patients among others.

Regional Issues

The Indian side congratulated Tanzania for successfully hosting two major Summits, namely, the African Human Capital Heads of State summit and the Africa Food Systems Summit in July and September 2023, respectively.

International Issues

• Indian side thanked Tanzania for their support in increasing interaction with the East African Community (EAC).
• Both leaders underscored that there are convergences between the two countries in international forums. It was noted that both sides have active participation in UN Peacekeeping Operations and have contributed towards regional security initiatives. Both sides noted the contributions made by Tanzania in the peacekeeping operations deployed under the auspices of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
• India and Tanzania agreed on the need for reform of the United Nations Security Council through expansion in both categories of membership. Indian side conveyed appreciation to Tanzania for its support during India’s term as a non-Permanent member of the UNSC for the period 2021-22 and also for Tanzania’s support for the Indian candidature for a non-Permanent membership of UNSC in 2028-29.

About tanzania

• It was formed as a sovereign state in 1964 through the federation of the separate states of Tanganyika and Zanzibar.
• Dodoma is the official capital and Dar es Salaam is the center of most government administrations as well as the country’s largest city and port.
• It is located just south of the equator in East Africa. It is bounded on the north by Uganda, Lake Victoria and Kenya, on the east by the Indian Ocean, on the south and southwest by Mozambique, Lake Nyasa, Malawi and Zambia, and on the west by Lake Tanganyika, Burundi and Rwanda.
• Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) and the world’s second deepest lake, Lake Tanganyika (1,436 m deep) are located in Tanzania.

SOURCE – PIB

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