India, Tanzania Explore New Areas Like Counter Terrorism At 4th Joint Defence Cooperation Committee Meeting

With an aim to give a fresh filip to their defence ties along with reviewing the ongoing progress, India and Tanzania held the fourth edition of the Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) meeting in Zanzibar, reaffirming their commitment to expanding bilateral military engagement.

The meeting reviewed ongoing defence cooperation and laid out a roadmap for widening collaboration across training, maritime security and defence industry partnerships, the Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday (February 2, 2026).

Why does this meeting matter for both sides?

The JDCC serves as the highest institutional mechanism guiding defence ties between India and Tanzania. Officials said the latest round of talks reflects growing strategic convergence as both countries seek to enhance capacity, interoperability and regional security, particularly in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

India and Tanzania share a long-standing and trusted partnership, with defence cooperation anchored in a five-year roadmap that focuses on sustainable and mutually beneficial engagement. Notably, bilateral ties were elevated to a strategic partnership during the state visit of Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan to India in 2023.

Which areas of defence cooperation were reviewed?

During the Zanzibar meeting, both sides assessed progress in military training, service-to-service cooperation, maritime security, and defence industry collaboration. They also explored new avenues to further strengthen ties, including counter-terrorism cooperation, peacekeeping training.

Capacity building in niche domains such as Electronic Warfare (EW), Cyber and Artificial Intelligence (AI) while military medicine was identified as a potential new pillar of defence cooperation, highlighting the expanding scope of the bilateral relationship.

Both the countries had in October 2023 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Defence Co-operation, which provides an over-arching frame-work for progressing various defence cooperation initiatives between the two countries. In recent years, India and Tanzania have been cooperating in the field of defence training in Indian institutions.

What new initiatives were agreed upon?

A key outcome of the meeting was the decision to initiate cooperation between the Indian Air Force and the Tanzanian Air Force, complementing the existing collaboration between the two nations’ Navies and Armies. Officials said this would enhance operational understanding and open new pathways for joint training and professional exchanges.

The Indian delegation was led by Amitabh Prasad, Joint Secretary (Defence Cooperation), and included senior officials from the Department of Defence and the Indian Armed Forces.

The Tanzanian side was headed by Ibrahim Mhona, Chief of Operations and Training, Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF). Bishwadip Dey, High Commissioner of India to Tanzania, also attended the meeting.

How does this fit into India’s wider defence outreach?

The JDCC meeting underscores India’s broader strategy of deepening defence partnerships with African nations, with a focus on capacity building, maritime security and peacekeeping cooperation. For Tanzania, enhanced engagement with India supports its efforts to modernise its armed forces.

Outcomes of the Zanzibar talks will further operationalise the five-year defence cooperation roadmap, reinforcing India–Tanzania defence ties in the years ahead.