NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 30 – India’s Goa Shipyard Ltd and Kenya Shipyard Limited have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of capacity building and for collaboration in ship design and construction in move to enhance bilateral defence co-operation.
The MoU was signed Tuesday when India’s Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh held talks with Kenya’s Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Bare Duale in New Delhi.
Duale is in India for a three-day work visit.
Highlighting the significance of this collaboration, India’s Defence Ministry emphasized the importance New Delhi places on its relationships with African nations
“The meeting was a testimony to the increasing depth in the India-Kenya defence partnership. Both the Ministers agreed that the defence relationship between the two countries has evolved from being training- centric to include more strategic aspects,” India’s Defence Ministry said Tuesday.
Mantri also presented 15 pairs of parachutes (main and reserve) manufactured by the Gliders India Limited to CS Duale for use by the Kenyan Defence Forces.
India also extended support towards setting up of an advanced CT scan facility in Kenya.
On his part, Duale acknowledged the growing prowess of the Indian defence industry and proposed the training of trainers’ of KDF by the instructors of Indian Armed Forces to maintain continuity and maximizing the benefits of such programmes.
In the pursuit of strengthening their cooperative efforts, both sides agreed for joint training in counter insurgency and United Nations peacekeeping operations.
Other regional security issues of mutual interest were also discussed during the meeting.
India’s Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan and Defence Secretary Shri Giridhar Aramane also attended the meeting along with senior officials of Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
