Why New Delhi chose Addis Ababa as a strategic partner

Diplomacy is never only about what is spoken. Very often, the real message lies beneath the words. Speeches by heads of state are carefully chosen, where every phrase signals intent, direction, and strategy—not just to the host nation, but to the wider world.

So, when Narendra Modi addressed the joint session of the Ethiopian Parliament, he was doing much more than recalling shared civilisational links or cultural similarities. He spoke of how both nations balance ancient wisdom with modern ambition. He drew attention to how India’s national song, Vande Mataram and the Ethiopian national anthem speak of the land as a mother. He referred to the shared hopes of people living in Addis Ababa and Ayodhya. He also highlighted the deep people-to-people bonds—Indian teachers who helped educate generations in Ethiopia, and Ethiopian students who studied in India and returned home to build their nation. These were not casual references or poetic parallels. They were deliberate signals.

Through these carefully chosen words, New Delhi was laying the foundation for the decades ahead, setting the tone for how Bharat sees its relationship not only with Ethiopia, but with Africa as a whole—one built on respect, partnership, shared aspirations, and a long-term vision rather than short-term diplomacy.

The elevation of India–Ethiopia ties to a Strategic Partnership marks more than a routine diplomatic upgrade. Strategic partnerships are reserved for countries that matter not only today, but across decades. Ethiopia’s inclusion in this category reveals how New Delhi views the changing geopolitics of Africa, the Indian Ocean, and the Global South.

Bharat’s engagement with Ethiopia is anchored in four interlinked pillars: strategic geography, economic opportunity, future-proofing critical resources, and Global South leadership. Together, these explain why Addis Ababa has emerged as one of Bharat’s most consequential partners on the African continent.

Strategic Geography: Ethiopia as Bharat’s Gateway to the Horn of Africa

Geography lies at the heart of New Delhi’s Ethiopia calculus. Although landlocked, Ethiopia is the political and demographic anchor of the Horn of Africa, a region that directly influences the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the western Indian Ocean. These waterways are among the world’s most critical maritime corridors, carrying a significant share of global energy supplies and trade between Asia, Europe and Africa.

For Bharat, whose economy and energy security depend on uninterrupted sea lanes, the Horn is no longer peripheral. Ethiopia’s importance stems from its regional weight and connectivity. Addis Ababa hosts the African Union, shapes regional diplomacy, and influences access to key ports in Djibouti, Somaliland and Kenya. By aligning closely with Ethiopia, India gains strategic depth in a contested region without adopting a militarised footprint.

This approach reflects New Delhi’s preference for influence without intrusion. Unlike other global powers that rely on permanent bases or coercive leverage, New Delhi seeks partnerships that provide access, intelligence cooperation and logistical flexibility while respecting sovereignty. Ethiopia offers precisely that: a partner that enables Bharat to remain present in the Horn’s strategic geometry without provoking regional backlash or domestic resistance.

In this sense, Ethiopia functions as a gateway state—not a port, but a pivot through which India can engage the Horn of Africa, safeguard Indian Ocean interests, and balance external competition in one of the world’s most geopolitically sensitive zones.

Economic Strategy: Ethiopia as an East African Manufacturing and Investment Hub

Bharat’s strategic interest in Ethiopia is equally economic. New Delhi does not view Ethiopia merely as a market of 120 million people, but as a platform economy capable of anchoring Indian business expansion across East Africa.

Ethiopia offers a rare combination of advantages: a large and youthful labour force, competitive manufacturing costs, export-oriented industrial parks, and proximity to African, Middle Eastern and European markets. For Indian companies facing rising costs and saturation in Asia, Ethiopia presents an alternative manufacturing base with long-term scalability.

Indian firms are already among the largest foreign investors in Ethiopia, with cumulative investments exceeding $5 billion across textiles, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, manufacturing and services. The strategic upgrade provides a political and institutional umbrella that reduces policy uncertainty, facilitates dispute resolution, and encourages deeper participation by Indian private capital.

For Ethiopia, India’s economic model is particularly attractive. Unlike extractive or debt-heavy investment patterns, Indian engagement is labour-intensive and capacity-building. It creates local jobs, embeds skills, and integrates Ethiopia into global value chains rather than isolating it as a raw-material supplier. This alignment of interests explains why Addis Ababa sees India not just as an investor but as a development partner.

Over time, Ethiopia could emerge as India’s manufacturing hub in East Africa, much as Vietnam became an extension of East Asian supply chains. The strategic partnership institutionalises this vision, ensuring that economic cooperation survives political cycles and short-term volatility. Strategic minerals and rare earths: Future-proofing India’s supply chains

One of the least discussed, but most consequential, dimensions of India–Ethiopia ties is strategic minerals. Ethiopia is known to host deposits of potash, tantalum, and other critical minerals, with early geological indicators suggesting potential rare-earth element (REE) occurrences. While large-scale commercial exploitation remains limited, the strategic value lies in early engagement.

As India expands its ambitions in clean energy, electronics, electric mobility, and defence manufacturing, access to a diversified set of mineral sources becomes a national security issue.

Ethiopia offers India an opportunity to invest at the exploration and processing stages, not merely as a buyer of raw material. This allows New Delhi to shape supply chains that prioritise sustainability, local value addition and long-term reliability. For Ethiopia, such partnerships reduce the risk of resource dependency and enable movement up the value chain through downstream processing and skills development.

This is not a short-term mining play. It is a 10–20 year strategic hedge, designed to future-proof India’s industrial ambitions while helping Ethiopia monetise its resources without repeating the mistakes of extractive dependency that have plagued parts of Africa.

Global south leadership: Ethiopia as Bharat’s political multiplier

Perhaps the most significant reason behind the strategic upgrade lies in geopolitics beyond the bilateral relationship. Bharat’s ambition to lead the Global South requires credible partners that command regional legitimacy and moral authority. Ethiopia fits this role uniquely.

As the seat of the African Union and a symbol of African sovereignty and anti-colonial resilience, Ethiopia carries political weight disproportionate to its economic size. When India aligns with Ethiopia, it strengthens its claim to speak not for Africa, but with Africa. This distinction is crucial in multilateral forums where legitimacy matters as much as numbers.

India’s Global South narrative emphasises development without dominance, reform of global institutions, climate justice, and equitable access to technology and finance. Ethiopia, as a respected African voice, amplifies these positions in international negotiations. This makes Ethiopia a natural political multiplier for India’s global aspirations.

A Strategic partnership by design, not default

The upgrade of India–Ethiopia relations is not driven solely by sentimentality, symbolism, or ideological alignment. It is the outcome of a sober assessment of where power, opportunity and legitimacy will reside in the coming decades.

Ethiopia gives India strategic access to the Horn of Africa without militarisation, an economic base for East African manufacturing, a long-term hedge in critical minerals, and a powerful ally in shaping the Global South’s voice. In return, India offers Ethiopia investment-led growth, technology transfer, diversified partnerships and greater room for strategic autonomy.

In an era marked by great-power competition and fractured global governance, such partnerships matter. Ethiopia is not merely another African partner for India. It is a pivot state through which New Delhi seeks to secure its interests while projecting restraint, credibility and leadership.

The strategic partnership, therefore, is not an end in itself. It is a framework—one that signals how India intends to engage Africa, the Indian Ocean and the Global South: quietly, patiently, and with an eye firmly on the future.

(The author is Founder of My Startup TV)