India and Morocco held the inaugural meeting of their Joint Defence Committee (JDC) in New Delhi on September 8, 2026, marking a significant step towards strengthening bilateral defence cooperation as the two countries move closer to the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2027.
The meeting was co-chaired by Joint Secretary (International Cooperation), Ministry of Defence, Shri Amitabh Prasad, and Chief of the 2nd Bureau of the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces, Brigadier General Abdellah Athmani.
The two sides held detailed discussions on a range of areas of mutual interest, including military training and education, peacekeeping operations, joint exercises, military medicine, cyber defence and defence industry cooperation. Both countries agreed to further expand defence engagement and explore new avenues for institutionalised cooperation.
The Indian delegation included senior officers and representatives from the Department of Defence, the three Services, Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff, Department of Defence Production, Directorate General Armed Forces Medical Services, DRDO and the Ministry of External Affairs.
The Moroccan delegation is on an official visit to India from September 7 to 10, 2026. As part of the visit, Brigadier General Athmani paid tribute 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 defence manufacturing ecosystem. Both sides agreed to explore greater cooperation in co-production, joint ventures, technology collaboration, maintenance and sustainment.
The Moroccan delegation is also scheduled to visit Army Hospital (Research & Referral) to gain an insight into India’s military medicine capabilities.
The inaugural JDC meeting comes in the backdrop of the Memorandum of Understanding on defence cooperation signed during Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh’s visit to Morocco in September 2025. The MoU provided fresh momentum to bilateral defence relations and established the institutional framework for the JDC.
The latest engagement underscores the growing depth of India-Morocco defence ties and reflects the shared intent to expand cooperation across operational, technological, industrial and capacity-building domains.
