Opinion | PM Modi Steers India's Naval Focus Towards African Shores
'Africa-India Key Maritime Engagement' (AIKEYME) exercise, which started on April 5, off the coast of Tanzania, is a potent symbol of this deepening commitment, a necessary step in a complex and increasingly contested maritime domain
The geopolitical chessboard is shifting, and India, with a sense of urgency, is pivoting its strategic gaze firmly towards Africa. It is a hard-nosed recognition that the maritime security landscape, particularly in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), demands proactive engagement with key African partners. The ‘Africa-India Key Maritime Engagement’ (AIKEYME) exercise, which started on April 5, off the coast of Tanzania, is a potent symbol of this deepening commitment, a necessary step in a complex and increasingly contested maritime domain.
AIKEYME 2025
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AIKEYME 2025 represents a landmark moment in India-Africa defence relations. Co-hosted by the Indian Navy and the Tanzania People’s Defence Force, this exercise marks India’s first major multilateral naval engagement specifically focused on the African continent. It brings together ten nations, including heavyweights like South Africa, key littoral states like Kenya and Mozambique, and strategically vital island nations such as Mauritius and Seychelles.
This initiative is significant. India intends for AIKEYME to become a biennial fixture, eventually expanding to encompass West African nations, signalling a long-term, region-wide security vision that acknowledges Africa’s rising global influence.
The exercise is designed for practical impact. The agenda, split into harbour and sea phases, tackles real-world threats head-on, encompassing command post exercises, anti-piracy discussions, intensive training on Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) operations – the sharp end of maritime law enforcement – alongside practical sea drills involving search and rescue, small arms firing, and helicopter operations. The aim is to foster trust and create seamless operational coordination between the participating navies, which is crucial for tackling shared maritime challenges effectively.
AIKEYME, alongside parallel initiatives like the ‘Indian Ocean Ship (IOS) Sagar’ deployment – which sees an Indian vessel with mixed international crew conducting joint EEZ surveillance – fits squarely into India’s declared strategy. Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti, Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff, explicitly links these efforts to the Prime Minister’s ‘SAGAR’ vision (Security and Growth for All in the Region), framing them as concrete steps to consolidate India’s role as a ‘preferred security partner’ and ‘first responder’ within the IOR.
SECURING WATERS, COUNTERING RIVALS
Why this intensified focus now? The answer lies in a confluence of pressing strategic realities that leave India little choice but to act decisively. India’s economic lifeblood flows across the oceans; approximately 85% of its crude oil and 55% of its natural gas arrive via vulnerable sea lines of communication (SLOCs), threading through critical chokepoints often plagued by instability.
Securing these maritime energy routes isn’t optional. It is fundamental to India’s ambition of reaching a $5 trillion economy and beyond, a vulnerability starkly highlighted by the International Energy Agency’s forecasts of burgeoning energy demand.
Looming large over this calculus is the expanding footprint of China across the Indian Ocean and into Africa. Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative has translated into significant economic leverage and, critically, strategic port access in nations like Pakistan (Gwadar), Sri Lanka (Hambantota), Bangladesh (Chittagong), and a military base in Djibouti – moves widely interpreted in New Delhi as serving dual geoeconomic and geostrategic aims, potentially aimed at containing India’s regional influence.
India perceives the presence of Chinese warships and submarines at these ports as a direct challenge. Therefore, India’s enhanced maritime engagement with African nations, including AIKEYME and the formation of coastal surveillance networks in places like Seychelles and Mauritius, serves as a necessary balancing act, offering African partners an alternative security framework built on shared interests rather than dependency.
Beyond great power competition, the maritime domain faces persistent, insidious threats that directly impact regional stability and India’s security. Piracy, though diminished from its peak off the Somali coast, remains a stubborn menace, particularly in the Gulf of Aden and, increasingly, the Gulf of Guinea – an area plagued by piracy and other threats to international trade where the Indian Navy ship INS Sumedha conducted joint exercises with Nigeria in 2023.
The recent redirection of international naval forces towards the Red Sea due to Houthi threats has, worryingly, thinned patrols elsewhere, potentially creating space for piracy’s resurgence. Compounding this is the twin menace of maritime smuggling, particularly narcotics trafficking, which often funds terrorist and anti-national activities, demanding robust intelligence-led operations and close inter-agency cooperation, as exemplified by operations like Crimson Barracuda under the Combined Maritime Forces umbrella.
DEFENCE COOPERATION AND CAPACITY BUILDING
AIKEYME doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it builds upon a steadily growing foundation of India-Africa defence cooperation, moving well beyond transactional relationships. India and Nigeria, for instance, share a defence relationship rooted in a 2007 Memorandum of Understanding, recently bolstered by counterterrorism talks and Nigeria’s significant $1 billion defence investment supported by India’s military-industrial complex.
Similarly, the Third India-Tanzania Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) meeting in late 2024 focused explicitly on enhancing naval operations, hydrographic cooperation, and exploring defence industry partnerships. It reflects the upgrade of their relationship to a ‘Strategic Partnership’ with a five-year defence roadmap. These are long-term commitments. Enhanced cooperation is deepening ties across the continent.
Central to India’s approach is capacity building – empowering African nations to manage their maritime security effectively. It involves providing training slots for African personnel in Indian military institutions, as noted during the Tanzania JDCC meeting, and technical support.
India’s support for regional Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) through initiatives like establishing radar networks in Mauritius and Seychelles is crucial, enhancing monitoring capabilities. Furthermore, India is actively sharing technology, such as providing Fast Interceptor Crafts to Mozambique, and expertise, demonstrated by the Tanzanian delegation’s visit to India’s National Institute of Hydrography. This commitment is underscored by the recent decision to post new defence attachés to key African nations like Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, and Djibouti, ensuring dedicated military diplomacy channels.
There’s also a pragmatic economic dimension underpinning this security engagement. India, now the world’s 23rd largest arms supplier, sees Africa as a significant potential market for its burgeoning defence industry, exporting systems like surface-to-air missiles and light weapons. Strengthening security ties opens avenues for defence trade and joint ventures. It creates a potential win-win scenario, bolstering regional security while simultaneously driving industrial growth and job creation in India and partner African nations, institutionalised through platforms like the India-Africa Defence Dialogue (IADD).
CHALLENGES AND THE ROAD AHEAD
Of course, navigating this complex engagement isn’t without hurdles. India faces capacity constraints; the Ministry of External Affairs, despite budget increases, remains relatively understaffed compared to the scale of its global ambitions, sometimes struggling to allocate sufficient resources and high-level attention consistently across regions, including Africa.
Significant delays in hosting the India-Africa Forum Summit (last held in 2015), partly due to logistical issues like Ebola and COVID-19, has created a perception in some quarters that Africa might not be a top priority for New Delhi. A perception it must actively counter through sustained engagement. Overcoming these internal limitations is crucial. India needs to match its strategic aspirations with adequate resources.
Despite these challenges, the strategic logic driving India’s African focus is undeniable and irreversible. India’s leadership must fully embrace a maritime-centric security perspective, recognising that protecting SLOCs and vital chokepoints is as critical as defending territorial borders. Enhancing India’s naval strength, modernising the fleet, and formulating a comprehensive maritime strategy are prerequisites to maintaining competitiveness and ensuring India remains a preeminent force in safeguarding its energy supply lines and regional stability.
Developing strategic access points like Chabahar in Iran, Duqm in Oman, Sittwe in Myanmar, Sabang in Indonesia, and facilities on Mauritius’ Agalega Island are all pieces of this larger strategic puzzle, designed to secure transport lines and mitigate rival influence.
Ultimately, India’s expanding footprint in Africa is a testament to its commitment to a multipolar world order based on mutual respect and shared prosperity, underpinned by its vision of SAGAR – Security and Growth for All in the Region. Initiatives like AIKEYME and IOS Sagar are not merely about countering China or tackling piracy; they are fundamental building blocks for a more secure, stable, and collaborative Indian Ocean Region.
By deepening naval cooperation, enhancing capacity building, and sustaining diplomatic engagement, India is ready to solidify its role as an indispensable security partner for Africa, ensuring this partnership becomes a defining pillar of its global strategy for years to come. The course is set. India’s maritime destiny is intimately linked with Africa’s.
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