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State-owned Goa Shipyard Ltd and Kenya Shipyard Ltd Tuesday signed an MoU for capacity building and collaboration in ship design and construction following Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Defence Aden Bare Duale’s bilateral talks here to promote military industry cooperation and deepen maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region.
“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,” the Ministry of Defence statement read.
Rajnath Singh also underscored the importance India attaches to the ties with African nations and, in particular, the relationship between India and Kenya which has been growing from strength to strength, the Ministry stated. The two Ministers also concurred on the need for deeper cooperation in maritime security of the Indian Ocean region.
Though MoU was signed between Goa Shipyard Ltd and Kenya Shipyard Ltd in the field of capacity building and for collaboration in ship design and construction, Aden Bare Duale will be visiting Goa Shipyard on August 31 to see the facility for themselves. He will also be going to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) facility in Bengaluru to see development of aerial platforms like LCA Tejas.
As a token of friendship, Rajnath Singh presented 15 pairs of parachutes (main and reserve) manufactured by the Gliders India Limited to the Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Defence for use by the Kenyan Forces. India also extended support towards setting up of an advanced CT scan facility in Kenya.
Duale appreciated the growing prowess of the Indian defence industry, including the private sector, and highlighted the areas in which the Indian industry can support the requirements of the Kenyan Forces. He also suggested ‘training of trainers’ of Kenyan Forces by the instructors of Indian Armed Forces in order to maintain continuity and extract greater benefit out of such programmes, the MoD said.
Both sides agreed to joint training in counter-insurgency and UN peacekeeping domains. Other regional security issues of mutual interest were also discussed during the meeting. Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan and Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane also attended the meeting along with senior officials of Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs and Defence PSUs.
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