India, Angola Sign 10-Year Defence & Energy Cooperation Deal

• India and Angola are deepening their ties with a focus on trade, defence cooperation, and energy relations
• India is set to offer Angola a $200 million line of credit to support defence sector modernization
• A new agreement is being finalized to strengthen India-Angola relations in various sectors, including defence and energy

India is poised to enhance its defence and energy ties with Angola ahead of President Droupadi Murmu's upcoming state visit to Angola and Botswana, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced recently.

In a special press briefing, MEA Secretary for Economic Relations, Sudhakar Dalela, outlined that key areas of cooperation between India and Angola include defence and the extension of Lines of Credit (LoC).

Dalela stated, “I think both are very critical sectors for cooperation. When the President of Angola came to India this year, he did discuss both these aspects with our leadership. Of course, we have a fairly vibrant energy partnership with Angola already, and we have about USD 5 billion in trade with Angola, out of which 80 per cent is in the energy sector. Our partnership with Angola from an energy security perspective is very critical. And we would like to explore the possibility of providing more momentum and depth to our partnership in the energy sector”.

India is preparing to offer a USD 200 million LoC to Angola for defence cooperation, with the agreement nearing completion.

Both nations are strengthening their strategic partnership through enhanced trade, defence cooperation, and energy ties, with a focus on a $200 million line of credit as part of a new bilateral agreement.

He added, “We are in the middle of discussions with Angola now to finalise the LOC agreement. We feel that we will be able to partner with Angola in this important area of defence as per their requirements”.

This follows an earlier announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May, where he confirmed the approval of the credit line to modernise Angola’s defence forces during a joint statement with Angolan President João Lourenco in India.

Dalela further stated, “We train a number of officers from partner countries in the Global South, including Angola and Botswana. With Botswana, we have a very historic partnership in the defence sector--our Indian training team was there for three decades, working very closely with the Botswana Defence Forces”.

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Dalela also emphasized India's ongoing development assistance to partner nations through Lines of Credit and grants.

He noted, “If there's a request from Angola or Botswana in the area of infrastructure development, we will be happy to look at those requests. As of now, we don't have any such requests, except for the defence industry that we have already announced”.

He pointed to emerging collaboration in critical minerals, which forms part of India’s National Critical Minerals Mission. “We would like to work with them through joint ventures, processing some minerals together, and meeting our requirements for sustainability, including electric vehicles and other sectors”.

Dalela also underlined India's commitment to capacity building under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme, particularly with Botswana.

In addition, Dalela highlighted India’s commitment to capacity building, particularly through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme, with Botswana as a focal point.

“In the last 10 years, almost 750 professionals, students, and civil servants from Botswana have come to India for training programmes across different sectors, including defence. If there is a requirement for more slots, we will be happy to create customised programmes”, he noted.

On emerging areas like cybersecurity, Dalela said India remains open to collaboration. He stated, “We haven't had detailed discussions with Angola and Botswana yet, but going forward, we would be open to working with our African partners in this domain”.

President Murmu’s visit, scheduled for November 8-13, is expected to significantly strengthen India’s engagement with the African continent, particularly in the areas of defence, energy, sustainable development, and capacity building.