Strengthening strategic ties, India and Tanzania reviewed defence cooperation in Zanzibar, with a focus on expanding air force engagement, electronic warfare, cyber, AI, counter-terrorism, and military medicine.
India and Tanzania have reaffirmed their defence partnership during the fourth Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) meeting, held in Zanzibar from 2 to 3 February 2026.
The meeting reviewed the status of ongoing defence engagement and outlined priorities for expanding cooperation. Both sides discussed closer collaboration in military training, service-to-service engagement, maritime security and defence industry partnerships.
New areas of cooperation were also explored. These included counter-terrorism, peacekeeping training, and capacity building in emerging and specialised domains such as electronic warfare, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence (AI). Military medicine was identified as a potential new pillar of bilateral cooperation, too.
An outcome of the meeting was the agreement to initiate cooperation between the two countries’ air forces. This is expected to complement the existing engagement between the Indian and Tanzanian navies and armies and strengthen interoperability across all three services.
The Indian delegation was led by Amitabh Prasad, Joint Secretary for 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 of the Tanzania People’s Defence Force. India’s High Commissioner to Tanzania, Bishwadip Dey, was also present at the discussions.
India and Tanzania have a long-standing partnership, marked by regular high-level exchanges and institutional mechanisms such as the JDCC. Defence cooperation between the two nations is guided by a five-year roadmap, which provides a structured framework for sustained engagement and collaboration.
