Marruecos refuerza la cooperación militar con Turquía y la India
Morocco has decided to add two military attachés to its diplomatic missions in New Delhi and Ankara. This Wednesday, at a Council of Ministers meeting chaired by King Mohammed VI, Rabat confirmed the decision, adopting a draft decree that complements the existing legislation on military attaché posts, adding this post to the Moroccan embassies in Turkey and India.
A military attaché is a defence expert who is part of a diplomatic mission, whose purpose is to assist the ambassador and deal with bilateral military and defence relations. In turn, he or she may be accompanied by a team of deputy attachés specialising in different aspects, such as land, naval or air forces.
Rabat is rapidly increasing its military spending, which already accounts for 4% of its GDP, and acquiring all types of foreign weaponry, while at the same time increasing military collaboration and exercises with other countries, with a view to boosting its capabilities vis-à-vis Algeria. Now, the opening of these two new attaché offices will help the Kingdom increase its cooperation with two countries that can assist in the modernisation efforts of the Royal Armed Forces (RAF).
India is a rising arms power. Narendra Modi's government aims to develop India's defence industry through the 'Make in India' programme, with the goal of reaching $5 billion in foreign arms sales by 2025. Although New Delhi has not figured prominently among Morocco's main suppliers, this new export drive could be beneficial for the Kingdom, which in May reportedly purchased Indian Tata LPTA 2038 tactical transport trucks.
Meanwhile, Turkey already has a developed defence industry, and bilateral defence relations with Morocco are growing rapidly. The Alawi kingdom has already acquired the services of the Turkish Bayraktar TB-2 drone, which played a key role in Azerbaijan's victory over Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh war, and is negotiating the purchase of various equipment from Eurasia, such as ARES 35 FPB patrol boats, ARES 80 SAT vessels, Ejder Yalçın armoured vehicles and T129 Atak attack helicopters.
The Moroccan Council of Ministers also gave the green light to two other measures in the defence sector. First, a draft law aimed at increasing controls on civilian access to weapons, which, according to a statement from the Council of Ministers, aims to "modernise and improve the legal arsenal relating to firearms for civilian use" by establishing an electronic register and increasing vigilance over their purchase, sale and possession.
The other piece of legislation deals with the control of the import and export of dual-use goods and services, i.e. those that can be used for both civilian and military purposes. Through this text, Rabat has appointed government representatives to the Special Commission on these goods and has established "the modalities for granting, modifying, suspending and withdrawing export and import licences". In addition, this decree also establishes the modalities for the designation of the competent authorities to identify these infractions.
