AIKEYME in action: India counters China with African naval outreach

India’s naval diplomacy focuses on building trust and offering a ‘non-coercive’ alternative to China’s investments, analysts say

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Indian Navy sailors take part in Navy Day celebrations in Mumbai last year. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:00pm, 30 Mar 2025

India is set to kick off its first major naval exercise with 10 African nations next month, in a move signalling its growing strategic ambitions.

The Africa-India Key Maritime Engagement (AIKEYME) exercise, will take place off the coast of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in mid-April amid New Delhi’s deepening military outreach on a continent where China has long been a dominant player.

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the six-day exercise, which will see India co-hosting with the Tanzania People’s Defence Force. The event will bring together naval forces from Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles and South Africa.

The exercise marks a major step for India’s maritime diplomacy, reinforcing its role as a regional security provider while deepening strategic and economic ties with Africa, according to foreign-affairs specialist Robinder Sachdev, founder-president of the Imagindia Institute, a Delhi-based think tank.

Crew members on board the INS Surat, a stealth guided missile destroyer of the Indian Navy. Photo: AFP

India’s naval presence in the region is not entirely new. The country already operates a coastal radar surveillance network in Mauritius, Seychelles and the Maldives under its Integrated Coastal Surveillance System. But “AIKEYME adds a layer of joint operational readiness” to this infrastructure, enabling faster and more coordinated responses to maritime threats, Sachdev said.