'Time-Tested Partners': India, Tanzania Elevate Ties To Strategic Partnership As PM Modi Meets President Suluhu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held bilateral talks with Tanzanian President Salma Suluhu on her visit to India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu ( Image Source :PTI )

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met with Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu who is on a four-day visit to India. Following the talks between the two heads of the nation, India and Tanzania elevated their ties to strategic partnership and agreed on a five-year roadmap to significantly expand defence cooperation. 

"The two leaders commended the existing close, cordial and cooperative relations and noted that India and Tanzania are time-tested partners bound by a long history of shared values and ideals spanning many years," stated the joint statement. 

In his media statement after the meeting, Modi noted that the country hosted Tanzania — calling it an important partner in the Indo-Pacific — as the first African nation after the African Union was given a permanent seat at the G20 Summit in New Delhi held in September this year. 

He also said that both the sides are working together on an agreement to increase the trade in local currencies, describing India and Tanzania as important partners for trade and investment.

Addressing the press meet with President @SuluhuSamia of Tanzania. https://t.co/mmlKN6ioG5

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 9, 2023

"Today is a historic day in the relations between India and Tanzania.Today, we are tying our age-old friendship into a strategic partnership," he said in the presence of Hassan.

Modi said that in the field of defence, both the countries have agreed on a roadmap of five years which would add new dimensions to cooperation in areas like military training, maritime sphere and defence industries.

In his address, the Prime Minister also noted that both the countries were “unanimous” that terrorism is the "most serious security threat to humanity", adding that both the sides have decided to increase mutual cooperation in the field of counter-terrorism. 

The two countries inked six agreements for cooperation in the sectors including digital domain, culture, sports, maritime industries and white shipping information sharing.

In the field of education, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras will set up a centre in Zanzibar, said PM Modi.