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India-Ethiopia Hold Second Joint Defence Meeting in Addis Ababa

The second India-Ethiopia Joint Defence Cooperation meeting was held in Addis Ababa on 28 September 2026, covering training, exercises and defence production.

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Why in News

The second Joint Defence Cooperation meeting between India and Ethiopia took place in Addis Ababa on 28 September 2026, where both sides agreed to expand cooperation in training, joint ventures in defence production, delegation visits and experience sharing.

India and Ethiopia held the second Joint Defence Cooperation (JDC) meeting in Addis Ababa on 28 September 2026, taking forward a defence relationship that the two countries have been building through a formal institutional channel.

What the two sides discussed

The agenda ranged across military training, joint exercises, medical cooperation, peacekeeping and the defence industry. Both delegations agreed to widen and deepen the work already under way, and settled on a set of practical routes for doing so: exchanging personnel between their training institutes, examining where joint ventures in defence production might be set up, arranging visits by delegations and holding sessions at which each side shares its own experience.

Who took part

The meeting was co-chaired by Shri Sanjay Kumar, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, and Major General Teshome Gemechu, Director General for Defence Foreign Relations and Military Cooperation of Ethiopia. Officers from the Department of Defence and Air Headquarters made up the Indian side. Shri Devesh Uttam, India's Ambassador to Ethiopia, also attended.

The mechanism behind the meeting

The JDC is not an ad hoc gathering. It flows from the Defence Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding that the defence ministers of the two countries signed in February 2025, which created a standing mechanism for such consultations. The first meeting under it was held in New Delhi in October 2025, so the Addis Ababa round completes the customary alternation of venues between the two capitals.

A partnership from 1958

Ethiopia is described as an important defence partner of India, and the association is an old one: it goes back to 1958. The relationship moved up a level during the visit of the Prime Minister of India to Ethiopia in December 2025, when the two countries raised their bilateral ties to the level of a Strategic Partnership. Read together, the MoU of 2025, the two JDC rounds and the elevation of ties show a steady thickening of India's defence engagement with the Horn of Africa.

Important Facts

EventSecond India-Ethiopia Joint Defence Cooperation (JDC) meeting
VenueAddis Ababa, Ethiopia
Date28 September 2026
Indian co-chairShri Sanjay Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defence
Ethiopian co-chairMajor General Teshome Gemechu
India's Ambassador to EthiopiaShri Devesh Uttam
Enabling agreementDefence Cooperation MoU signed in February 2025
First JDCNew Delhi, October 2025
Partnership began1958
Status of tiesStrategic Partnership, elevated in December 2025

Exam Point of View

Remember the edition (second JDC), the venue (Addis Ababa) and date, the venue of the first JDC (New Delhi, October 2025), the Defence Cooperation MoU of February 2025, the co-chairs (Shri Sanjay Kumar and Major General Teshome Gemechu), India's Ambassador to Ethiopia (Shri Devesh Uttam), the start of the partnership in 1958 and its elevation to a Strategic Partnership in December 2025.

Practice Questions

Q1.InternationalEasy

The second Joint Defence Cooperation meeting between India and Ethiopia was held in which city?

  1. A.New Delhi
  2. B.Addis Ababa
  3. C.Nairobi
  4. D.Djibouti City
Show answer

Correct answer: B. Addis Ababa

Explanation

The correct answer is Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, where the two sides met to discuss military training, exercises, medical cooperation, peacekeeping and defence industries. Option A is wrong because New Delhi hosted the first meeting of this mechanism, in October 2025, and the second round moved to the other capital under the usual practice of alternating venues. Option C is wrong because Nairobi is the capital of Kenya and has no part in this particular dialogue, which is strictly bilateral between India and Ethiopia. Option D is wrong because Djibouti, although it lies in the same region and hosts several foreign military facilities, is not where this meeting was held. The Indian delegation was drawn from the Department of Defence and Air Headquarters, and India's Ambassador to Ethiopia took part as well.

Q2.InternationalHard

The India-Ethiopia Joint Defence Cooperation mechanism flows from a Defence Cooperation MoU signed in which month and year?

  1. A.February 2025
  2. B.October 2025
  3. C.December 2025
  4. D.January 2026
Show answer

Correct answer: A. February 2025

Explanation

The correct answer is February 2025, when the defence ministers of the two countries signed the Defence Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding that set up the standing mechanism for these consultations. Option B is wrong because that is when the first meeting under the mechanism was held, in New Delhi; the agreement came first and the meeting followed from it. Option C is wrong because that is when the Prime Minister of India visited Ethiopia and the two countries raised their relationship to the level of a Strategic Partnership, a separate milestone. Option D is wrong because no step in this sequence falls in that month. Aspirants should keep the order clear: the memorandum, then the first round of talks, then the elevation of ties, and now the second round in the Ethiopian capital.

Q3.InternationalMedium

The defence partnership between India and Ethiopia began in which year?

  1. A.1947
  2. B.1958
  3. C.1971
  4. D.1991
Show answer

Correct answer: B. 1958

Explanation

The correct answer is 1958. Ethiopia is counted among India's important defence partners and the association between the two militaries dates from that year, which makes it one of India's older defence links on the African continent. Option A is wrong because that is the year of India's independence and no defence partnership with Ethiopia is traced to it. Option C is wrong because nothing in this account places the beginning of the relationship in that year, although it is a familiar date in Indian military history for other reasons. Option D is wrong for the same reason; by then the partnership was already several decades old. The relationship has been formalised in recent years through a Defence Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding and raised to a Strategic Partnership in December 2025.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where was the second India-Ethiopia Joint Defence Cooperation meeting held?

In Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, on 28 September 2026. The first JDC meeting had been held in New Delhi in October 2025.

Which agreement set up the India-Ethiopia JDC mechanism?

The Defence Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding signed by the defence ministers of the two countries in February 2025 created the institutional mechanism under which the JDC meetings are held.

When were India-Ethiopia ties raised to a Strategic Partnership?

In December 2025, during the visit of the Prime Minister of India to Ethiopia. The defence association between the two countries dates back to 1958.

Sources