India, Morocco hold first Joint Defence Committee meeting, agree to expand military cooperation
New Delhi, Sep 8. India and Morocco held the inaugural meeting of their Joint Defence Committee (JDC) in New Delhi, agreeing to expand bilateral defence cooperation across a range of areas as the two countries prepare to mark the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2027.
The meeting, held on September 8, was co-chaired by Joint Secretary (International Cooperation) in the Ministry of Defence Amitabh Prasad and Brigadier General Abdellah Athmani, Chief of the 2nd Bureau of the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces. Both sides reviewed opportunities for cooperation in military training and education, peacekeeping operations, exercises, medical services, cyber defence and defence industry.
The two sides also agreed to explore greater industrial collaboration, including co-production, joint ventures, technology partnerships, as well as maintenance and sustainment of defence equipment.
The Moroccan delegation, visiting India from September 7 to 10, includes senior defence officials. Brigadier General Athmani began the visit by paying homage to India’s fallen soldiers at the National War Memorial in New Delhi.
The delegation also visited DPSU Bhawan, where it interacted with Indian defence industry representatives and received an overview of the country’s expanding indigenous defence manufacturing capabilities. The engagement provided an opportunity to identify potential areas for industrial cooperation between the two countries.
As part of the visit, the Moroccan delegation is scheduled to visit the Army Hospital (Research & Referral) to gain an insight into India’s military medicine and healthcare capabilities.
The inaugural JDC meeting is significant as it provides a formal institutional framework for taking forward defence cooperation between India and Morocco. The mechanism was established under a Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation signed during Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Morocco in September 2025.
The 2025 visit had provided fresh momentum to bilateral defence relations, with the two countries seeking to broaden cooperation beyond traditional military exchanges to include defence manufacturing, technology and specialised capabilities.
With the establishment of the JDC, India and Morocco now have a structured platform to periodically review ongoing cooperation and identify new areas of engagement, particularly in defence production, military capacity-building and emerging security domains.
The move also comes as India continues to expand defence partnerships with countries in Africa, with greater emphasis on training, capacity building, defence industrial cooperation and technology partnerships.
