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Rabat – Guided by King Mohammed VI’s vision, Morocco’s diplomacy has positioned the North African country as a key player and a strategic partner on the global stage.
Through an almost octopus-like approach to foreign policy, Morocco’s diplomacy has proven influential from north to south and west to east, creating strategic relations across continents.
The country’s multidirectional diplomacy enabled Morocco to not only deepen its partnership in Africa and Europe but also expand toward global powerhouses like India, a leader in many sectors, including information technology, exports, and innovation.
Beyond diplomatic ties
Recent data from the Indian government noted that the country’s exports have reached $778.21 billion in 2023-2024. The number represents a 67% increase from 466.22 billion in 2013-2014, the same data shows, attributing the situation to India’s “expanding role in global trade, driven by strong performances in both merchandise and services exports.”
Morocco’s stability, appealing business environment, and advanced infrastructure make the country an ideal partner for countries across the world, especially those seeking to expand into new markets.
For world leaders, a presence in Morocco means access to a fast-growing market, Africa — a continent with vast untapped potential in all industries, including agriculture.
The continent’s agriculture sector covers vast arable lands that remain underutilized, offering significant opportunities that could serve the continent’s food security.
Morocco’s high-value sectors, like aeronautics and automotive, as well as the renewable energy industry, also provide fertile ground for both existing and potential.
Multisectoral partnerships
Statistics from different sources, including the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), have confirmed an already strong tie between India and Morocco.
The observatory indicated that India exported $101 million to Morocco in March 2025. Meanwhile, the country imported $46 million as of March, with the observatory stressing that this resulted in a positive trade balance of $55.3 million.
“Between March 2024 and March 2025, the exports of India to Morocco increased by $8.15M (8.75%) from $93.1M to $101M, while imports decreased by $57.8M (55.7%) from $104M to $46M,” the data shows.
India’s main exports to Morocco include drug formulations, motor vehicles, cars, and biologicals.
In 2020, Morocco exported $1.39 billion to India, with the main products exported covering phosphoric acid, mixed mineral or chemical fertilizers.
Over the past 25 years, Moroccan exports to India strengthened at an annual rate of 6.25%, jumping from $306 million in 1995 to $1.39 billion in 2020.
In 2020, meanwhile, India exported $623 million to Morocco, with imports including refined petroleum, packaged medicines, and cars.
India’s exports to the North African country reached an annual rate of 11.8%, jumping from $38.9 million in 1995 to $623 million.
India’s private industry increasingly sees Morocco as an attractive investment destination. Over the years, the number of Indian companies operating in Morocco has grown from 12 to 40, with businesses from the Asian country focusing on different sectors, including automotive, IT, green technologies, and hospitality.
Some notable Indian companies operating in the North African country include Tata Motors, Sterling and Wilson, Larsen and Toubro, Sumilon, Furnace Fabrica, among several others.
Morocco’s appealing sectors
In March, India’s main imports from Morocco were fertilizers, which represent a key cornerstone sector in Morocco’s economy. The North African country positioned itself as a global leader in fertilizer production, as it is home to over 70% of the world’s phosphate reserves.
In 2023, Morocco’s fertilizer giant OCP Group announced a deal with India to supply the Asian country with 1.7 million metric tonnes of phosphate-based fertilizer.
Under the deal, OCP announced it will supply 700,000 tonnes of fertilizers to the country. OCP emphasized that the fertilizers would be tailored to meet the needs of farmers’ soil, with another one million tonnes to be supplied directly to farmers.
Beyond fertilizers, Morocco is considered a powerhouse in other sectors, including the automotive industry, competing with key players like China and India.
The Moroccan government is also confident that its automotive sector has the potential to be more competitive than these countries.
Recently, Morocco’s Minister of Industry, Ryad Mezzour, announced that the country’s automotive production stands at 700,000 vehicles. The minister said that Morocco is expected to produce one million vehicles by the end of the year.
Morocco’s proximity to Europe and its position as a gateway to Africa attract dozens of industrial companies from all sectors, including automotive.
Free zones across Kenitra, Tangier, Casablanca, and beyond host major automotive companies, including Renault, Stellantis, Yazaki, and more.
Indian companies are also establishing a presence in the North African country, including Motherson Group.
In 2022, the group opened its new site in Tangier Med, with a focus on producing instrument panels and door panels for passenger and light commercial vehicles.
During the opening ceremony, the group emphasized Morocco’s position as a strategic location for Motherson due to its proximity to Europe and the Middle East, noting that the new facility allows it to better serve its existing and new customers in the regions.
Beyond the automotive sector, the partnership between Morocco and India also extends into different areas like defense and military collaboration.
Expanding into defense and beyond
In 2024, Moroccan military officials, including Abdellatif Loudidyi, Morocco’s Minister Delegate in charge of national defense administration, highlighted the importance of bilateral ties and stressed how the two countries have “every potential to pursue their positive momentum in various fields, including defense.”
He also renewed Morocco’s commitment to providing favorable conditions for Indian defense companies, vowing zero bureaucracy and profitability. “We want you in Morocco, we will support you, ” Loudyi said, according to the Hindu.
A strategic partnership in defense has already begun to take shape between the North African country and India’s Tata Group. The military deal included a shipment of 90 military trucks.
In September 2024, Morocco’s military and TATA Advanced Systems Limited teamed up to produce the WhAP 8×8 armored combat vehicle domestically.
The Moroccan Ministry of Defense said the project is a systematic step toward deepening the historical ties between Morocco and India.
All of the aforementioned agreements and partnerships stem from strong diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Many officials from both countries stressed the importance of these relations in forging further agreements benefiting New Delhi and Rabat at all levels.
In May, a senior diplomat from the Indian embassy in Rabat emphasized the importance of ties between the two countries. In an exclusive statement to Morocco World News (MWN), the official warmly welcomed Morocco’s place as a strategic ally to India.
“India and Morocco share a time-tested and resilient partnership built on deep mutual respect, strategic convergence, and shared quest for the well-being and prosperity of our citizens,” the official who preferred to speak under a condition of anonymity said.
“We value its stability, moderation, and deep ties to multiple regions,” the official added.
The same remarks were echoed by the former Indian ambassador to Morocco in 2024 during the MWN-led initiative Rabat Networking Day (RND) in January, when Rajesh Vaishnaw celebrated the strong bilateral ties between Rabat and New Delhi.
Commenting on ties between Morocco and India, Vaishnaw described them as “friendly and close.”
King’s visit brought momentum to ties
The former ambassador emphasized that relations have been strengthened, particularly after the landmark visit of King Mohammed VI to India in 2015.
According to the Moroccan embassy in India, Morocco “was an unknown destination for Indians for business and investment” for a long time.
“However, since the historic visit to India of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God Assist Him, in October 2015 on the occasion of the 3rd Summit of the India-Africa Forum, the Kingdom of Morocco has become increasingly present in the radar of the Indian business community and Indian multinationals in particular,” the embassy said.
Most recently, reports resurfaced about a potential visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in early July as part of his potential five-nation diplomatic tour. However, a high-level source from the Indian embassy in Rabat familiar with the matter told MWN that the visit is unlikely to take place as such a visit should be well-planned.
Similar high-level visits bring further momentum to relations between countries. A potential visit in the future by Modi could bring further momentum to Morocco-India relations, especially if India moves beyond its traditional position and joins the growing number of powers in recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara.
A shift towards full recognition or support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as the most serious and credible political solution to the dispute would place India alongside over 113 countries, including the US, UK, France, and Spain.
Morocco has constantly emphasized how Western Sahara is the lens through which Rabat views its relations and cooperation with other countries.
