NEW DELHI: India has stepped up its maritime outreach along Africa’s eastern seaboard, with frontline guided-missile frigate INS Trikand making a port call at Dar-es-Salaam on Friday as part of an ongoing deployment in the South-West Indian Ocean Region.
The Indian Navy, in a statement on Sunday, said the visit is aimed at “strengthening maritime cooperation and enhancing bilateral ties between India and Tanzania”, reflecting a calibrated push to deepen engagement with African littorals amid intensifying geopolitical competition in the Indian Ocean.
The visit comes against the backdrop of a steady rise in Indian naval presence missions across the western Indian Ocean, stretching from island nations like Mauritius and Seychelles to mainland African partners such as Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique. These deployments have increasingly combined capacity-building, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief support and operational coordination, even as China expands its naval footprint and dual-use infrastructure across the region.
During the port call, Trikand is undertaking joint training activities with the Tanzania Navy to “enhance interoperability and maritime cooperation”, alongside professional exchanges designed to build institutional linkages. A series of softer engagements, including sports fixtures, yoga sessions and a cultural evening onboard, are also planned to foster people-to-people connect.
The deployment carries a functional edge as well. “Critical stores ferried from India will be handed over during the visit,” the Navy said, underlining New Delhi’s attempt to position itself as a reliable security and logistics partner for friendly foreign countries in the region.
The outreach is being framed under MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions) which builds on the earlier SAGAR vision but with greater emphasis on sustained engagement, interoperability and partner-driven capability enhancement.
Over the past decade, India has also expanded training slots for African navies, conducted joint EEZ surveillance missions and supplied patrol vessels, radars and other maritime assets to several countries on the continent.