Algeria strengthens its military cooperation with India to break its dependence on Russia
Algeria is moving towards diversifying its military cooperation, seeking to go beyond its traditional association with Russia. To this end, the Algerian military leadership is exploring new options for collaboration with India within the framework of the agreement signed between the two countries at the beginning of last November. This agreement is in addition to a similar one with the United States, reflecting a clear trend towards the diversification and expansion of Algeria's military relations, thus putting an end to decades of Russian dependence.
In this regard, an Algerian delegation led by the Deputy Minister of Defence and Chief of the Algerian Army General Staff, Said Chengriha, has travelled to India with the aim of exploring opportunities to strengthen bilateral military cooperation. During his stay in New Delhi, Chengriha is holding consultations with his Indian counterparts and visiting various institutions and facilities dedicated to the manufacture of military equipment in order to evaluate possible areas of collaboration in this sector.
On his fourth day in India, Chengriha, accompanied by Indian military officers, visited Bharat Forge, a leading company specialising in mining, military vehicles, the design, production and maintenance of artillery systems and armoured vehicles, as well as the development of artificial intelligence-driven robots. He later also toured the facilities of Larsen & Toubro, a leading company in the advanced military industries sector. The aim of these visits is to strengthen cooperation ties in key areas of technology.
A communiqué from the Algerian Ministry of Defence reported on a meeting between Chengriha and his Indian counterpart, Anil Chauhan, to ‘address various ways of strengthening military cooperation between the two countries’. This meeting underlines the mutual interest in expanding and diversifying strategic ties in the field of defence.
The communiqué also stated that both parties ‘held bilateral talks on ways to improve military cooperation between Algeria and India’. ‘These talks were extended to include delegations from both countries, with the presence of leaders of the Indian armed forces and members of the Algerian military delegation,’ the statement explained. In addition, Chengriha expressed his hope that his visit would serve as ‘an opportunity to exchange views on issues of common interest and to lay the foundations for cooperation’.
The ties between Algeria and India, which were established after Algeria's independence in 1962, have historically been friendly, although in recent years they have cooled somewhat. An example of this was New Delhi's lack of support for Algiers' proposal to join the BRICS group, backing that the Algerian president had been hoping for but which did not materialise. This situation was even more frustrating for Algeria, which saw how its ‘trusted partners’, Russia and China, did not respond as expected.
In recent years, Algeria has allocated significant resources to the Ministry of Defence with the aim of renewing and strengthening its defence and armaments infrastructure. The agreements recently signed with India and the United States reflect the clear intention of the Algerian military leadership to diversify and expand its military cooperation, seeking to overcome its historical dependence on the Russian market. This strategy has been boosted by the difficulties faced by Moscow due to the enormous losses suffered in its war against Ukraine, which has affected its capacity to fulfil arms contracts with its partners. In addition, weaknesses in its military system have become evident, which has led Algeria to explore new alliances and sources of armaments.
Now, with military cooperation between Algeria and India, a new era is dawning for both countries. In this context, Algeria is seeking to diversify its military partnerships to reduce its historical dependence on Russia and keep up with the latest technologies and weapons, including drones and state-of-the-art weapons. For its part, India is looking to open up more on the African continent, and sees Algeria as a key gateway to strengthen its presence and expand its strategic ties.
Both countries have experienced a significant boost in recent months. In mid-October, Indian President Draupadi Murmu made an official visit to Algeria, followed by a visit from the commander of the Indian Army. ‘The recent official visit of the Indian president to Algeria is the greatest evidence of the firm will of the leaders of both countries to revitalise bilateral relations and foster new perspectives for joint cooperation, thus consolidating the strength of the historical ties that unite Algeria and India,’ Chengriha declared in this regard.
It is hoped that opportunities for military cooperation will further strengthen economic ties between Algeria and India, which could increase the volume of trade, which has already reached 2 billion dollars in recent years. This partnership includes key sectors such as infrastructure, heavy industry, mechanical engineering, fuel, electricity, mining, railways, pharmaceuticals, textiles, agriculture, petrochemicals, fertiliser production, phosphate and iron conversion, as well as seawater desalination and information and communication technologies. Defence cooperation could be an additional driver for growth in these areas and open up new opportunities for cooperation.