First joint conference of army chiefs of India and African countries held in Pune

Tags: Summits National News

The first joint conference of army chiefs of India and African countries was held in Pune on 28 March.

An overview of the news

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the conference as the chief guest. Army Chief General Manoj Pandey was also present.

• This is the first ever conference of the army chiefs of these countries.

• Army chiefs of 10 countries were present in this conference along with 31 representatives of African countries.

• A defense exhibition will be organized under the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign and the aim of the exhibition is to target African countries as a market for defense products.

About African continent

• It is the second largest continent (after Asia), covering about one-fifth of the total land surface of Earth. 

• It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, the Mediterranean Sea in the north, the Red Sea and Indian Ocean in the east, and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans in the south.

• The island of Madagascar, off the coast of Africa, is one of the largest islands in the world.

• The African continent has a population of over one billion, with a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion, making it a huge potential market.

• Africa is a resource-rich continent rich in crude oil, gas, pulses and lentils, leather, gold and other metals, all of which are lacking in substantial quantities in India.