Nigeria and India: the Lagos mission of 1958 and the Abuja Declaration's strategic partnership

Background

India set up its diplomatic mission in Lagos in November 1958, about two years before Nigeria's independence in 1960, and the High Commission of India describes the relationship as having moved from historical friendship to strategic partnership. The two countries upgraded their ties to a strategic partnership in October 2007 during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's state visit, when the Abuja Declaration for Strategic Partnership and a bilateral defence cooperation memorandum of understanding were signed. Bilateral trade, on figures sourced to India's DGCIS, stood at US$7,893.30 million in 2023-24, down from US$14,954.75 million in 2021-22, mainly because of lower Nigerian oil purchases. The Indian community in Nigeria numbers about 50,000, including Indian nationals and Overseas Citizens of India cardholders, and is the largest Indian community in West Africa. On defence, India helped set up the Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna and the Naval College in Port Harcourt; former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida trained in Indian military institutions, and Muhammadu Buhari attended the Defence Services Staff Course at Wellington in the 1970s. Later agreements include a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in outer space signed on 13 August 2020 and the e-Vidya Bharati and e-Arogya Bharati memorandum of September 2021.