Somalia and India

How do Somalia and India relate today?

India has no embassy in Somalia. Its High Commission in Nairobi is also accredited to Somalia (High Commission of India, Nairobi, India–Somalia brief, October 2025).

The main facts today:

• Trade: India exported US$765.66 million of goods to Somalia in 2024–25 and imported US$35.20 million (High Commission of India, Nairobi).
• Travel: India's mission issued 5,252 visas to Somali nationals in 2024 (High Commission of India, Nairobi).
• Training: Somalia has 15 Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarships a year, and its ITEC training places rose from 15 to 30 in 2025 (High Commission of India, Nairobi).

When did contact begin?

India's government notes that traders from India have worked along the Horn of Africa's Indian Ocean coast since ancient times (High Commission of India, Nairobi). For the oldest written record of this trade, see The Periplus and the Somali ports.

India established diplomatic relations with Somalia in 1960 (High Commission of India, Nairobi). India's Commissioner in Mauritius was accredited as ambassador and presented credentials in 1961 (High Commission of India, Nairobi).

India later opened a resident embassy in Mogadishu. It closed after the civil war began in 1991 (Assistant High Commission of India, Mombasa, August 2021).

Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

• 1961: India's Commissioner in Mauritius was accredited to Somalia (High Commission of India, Nairobi).
• Today: the High Commissioner in Nairobi is accredited to Somalia (High Commission of India, Nairobi).
• May 2021: High Commissioner Virander Paul presented credentials and met President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo (Assistant High Commission, Mombasa). He attended President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's inauguration in June 2022 (High Commission of India, Nairobi).
• July 2015: Minister of State V. K. Singh visited Somalia as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's special envoy (High Commission of India, Nairobi).
• June 2024: High Commissioner Namgya C. Khampa met Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi in Mogadishu on 12 June 2024 (Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 12 June 2024).
• 2026: Adarsh Swaika, based in Nairobi, gave a copy of his credentials to Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali in Mogadishu on 16 April 2026 (SONNA, 16 April 2026). He presented his credentials to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in August 2026 (The Tribune, 19 August 2026).

Somali ambassadors who presented credentials to India's president at Rashtrapati Bhavan:

• Ebyan Mahamed Salah: to President Pratibha Patil, dated 18 December 2010 in the caption (Rashtrapati Bhavan photo archive).
• Faduma Abdullahi Mohamud: to President Ram Nath Kovind, 28 August 2019 (Rashtrapati Bhavan photo archive).
• Ahmed Ali Dahir: to President Droupadi Murmu, 26 August 2022 (Rashtrapati Bhavan photo archive).
• Abdullahi Mohamed Odowa: to President Droupadi Murmu, 17 February 2025 (Rashtrapati Bhavan photo archive).

The full list of Indian ambassadors in Mogadishu before 1991 was not found in records that could be opened for this page.

Who built the tie?

• Abdirashid Ali Shermarke visited India in 1963 with the information minister, and again in 1968 as president (High Commission of India, Nairobi).
• E. Ahamed, Minister of State, led India's delegation to the London Conference on Somalia in February 2012 (High Commission of India, Nairobi).
• V. K. Singh, Minister of State, carried the invitation to the India–Africa Forum Summit to Somalia in July 2015 (High Commission of India, Nairobi).
• Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, president, attended that summit in New Delhi on 26–29 October 2015 and received an honorary doctorate from Barkatullah University, Bhopal (High Commission of India, Nairobi).
• Yusuf Garaad Omar, foreign minister, made his first official visit on 31 July to 4 August 2017; the prisoner transfer agreement was signed then (High Commission of India, Nairobi; Mombasa brief).
• Mahdi Mohamed Guled, deputy prime minister, attended the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance in March 2018 (High Commission of India, Nairobi).
• Hassan Ali Mohamed, defence minister, attended DefExpo and the India–Africa defence ministers' meeting on 5–7 February 2020 (High Commission of India, Nairobi).
• S. Jaishankar, external affairs minister, met Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire in Paris in November 2019, Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi in New York in September 2024 and Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali in September 2025 (High Commission of India, Nairobi). He hosted Abdisalam Abdi Ali in New Delhi in January 2026, where they discussed trade, education and health (Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 30 January 2026).

What agreements have they signed?

• 2017: agreement on the transfer of sentenced persons (High Commission of India, Nairobi). Somali officials brought 117 prisoners home from India under it in January to March 2018 (Mombasa brief).
• May 2017: Somalia signed the International Solar Alliance Framework Agreement (Mombasa brief).
• 5 June 2018: memorandum between India's Foreign Service Institute and Somalia's foreign ministry on training diplomats (High Commission of India, Nairobi).

Which leaders have visited?

Somali leaders in India (High Commission of India, Nairobi):

• 1963: Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, with the information minister.

• 1968: President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke.

• 2011: Deputy Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, at a CII–EXIM Bank conclave.

• 26–29 October 2015: President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, India–Africa Forum Summit.

• 31 July to 4 August 2017: Foreign Minister Yusuf Garaad Omar.

• March 2018: Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Mohamed Guled.

• 5–7 February 2020: Defence Minister Hassan Ali Mohamed.

• 2023–2025: health, energy, water, telecoms and other ministers at Indian-hosted meetings, including Health Minister Ali Haji Adam Abubakar on 17 November 2023.

• January 2026: Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali, New Delhi (Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 30 January 2026).

Indian leaders in Somalia:

• July 2015: Minister of State V. K. Singh (High Commission of India, Nairobi).
• 1992, 2012 and 2017: other ministerial visits (Mombasa brief).

How much do they trade?

India runs a large trade surplus with Somalia. India's Department of Commerce figures, in US dollars (Mombasa brief; High Commission of India, Nairobi):

• 2013–14: exports US$210.89 million, imports US$46.39 million.
• 2016–17: exports US$506.47 million, imports US$17.70 million.
• 2019–20: exports US$583.87 million, imports US$15.05 million.
• 2021–22: exports US$744.58 million, imports US$18.06 million.
• 2022–23: exports US$946.37 million, imports US$17.90 million, the peak year.
• 2023–24: exports US$819.58 million, imports US$28.21 million.
• 2024–25: exports US$765.66 million, imports US$35.20 million.

India's calendar-year figures reported to UN Comtrade show the same growth:

• 2010: exports US$71.0 million, imports US$9.2 million (UN Comtrade, 2010).
• 2015: exports US$418.4 million, imports US$16.3 million (UN Comtrade, 2015).
• 2020: exports US$544.0 million, imports US$5.1 million (UN Comtrade, 2020).
• 2024: exports US$803.3 million, imports US$34.7 million (UN Comtrade, 2024).

In 2024 sugar made up US$249.7 million of India's exports to Somalia and cereals, mainly rice, US$230.3 million. Vehicles (US$49.1 million) and medicines (US$42.9 million) came next (UN Comtrade, 2024, by product).

As a least developed country, Somalia qualifies for India's duty-free tariff preference scheme (High Commission of India, Nairobi).

How much aid and money has gone in?

Indian aid and grants (High Commission of India, Nairobi):

• 1985: Somalia was among the recipients of 100,000 tonnes of wheat offered to the region.
• 1992: relief supplies worth 2 million rupees.
• September 2011: US$8 million for Horn of Africa relief through the World Food Programme.
• After 2011: US$2 million for the African Union mission, plus US$1 million to the UN trust fund for it in each of 2012, 2017 and 2021.
• July 2018: medicines worth US$1 million, handed to Somalia's health minister in Mogadishu.
• February 2021: 27 mini-buses.
• September 2025: 10 tonnes of medical aid.

Training and scholarships (High Commission of India, Nairobi):

• ICCR: 15 places a year.
• ITEC: 15 places a year, raised to 30 in 2025.
• e-VBAB online degrees: 364 Somali students enrolled.
• Diplomats: 20 trained in 2015, a course in 2018, and 10 in August 2025.

In June 2024 the two sides agreed to make it easier for Somalis needing medical treatment in India to get visas without intermediaries (Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 12 June 2024).

What about security?

About 4,600 Indian troops served in UNOSOM II in 1993–94, and 12 were killed (High Commission of India, Nairobi). The Indian Navy has carried out anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since 2008 (High Commission of India, Nairobi).

Under Operation Sankalp, the navy acted when the bulk carrier MV Ruen was hijacked on 14 December 2023, and ended its action against the hijacking by March 2024 (Press Information Bureau, Government of India, 23 March 2024). In its first 100 days the operation responded to 18 incidents and saved over 110 lives (PIB, 23 March 2024).

See Piracy off Somalia and Foreign forces in Somalia.

How does India deal with Somaliland and the member states?

India's official ties are with the Federal Government (High Commission of India, Nairobi). India held consular camps in Mogadishu in 2017 and 2018 and in Garowe, Puntland, in 2019 and 2020 (High Commission of India, Nairobi). International Day of Yoga events were held in Garowe and Mogadishu in 2019 (Mombasa brief). After Israel recognised Somaliland on 26 December 2025, India's foreign ministry said its position was unchanged and that India engages with Somalia as a single state (Pravasi Samwad, 10 January 2026).

Have there been disputes?

No dispute between the two governments was found in the sources used.

How many Somalis live in India?

UNHCR counted 486 Somali refugees and 912 Somali asylum seekers in India at the end of 2025 (UNHCR Refugee Data Finder). See Somalis in India and Pakistan.

In the other direction, about 150 Indian nationals work in Somalia and about 500 people of Indian origin live there (High Commission of India, Nairobi). Some 200 Indian families once lived in Somalia, many in textile dyeing in Mogadishu and Merca; most left after 1991 (High Commission of India, Nairobi).

Where does India stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

India sent troops to UNOSOM II and has funded the African Union mission (High Commission of India, Nairobi). It is a member of the UN Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia and took part in its July 2018 plenary in Nairobi (Mombasa brief). Both countries belong to the Indian Ocean Rim Association and the Non-Aligned Movement, where their ministers met in 2022 and 2025 (High Commission of India, Nairobi).

Related pages

• Somalis in India and Pakistan
• The Periplus and the Somali ports
• Ancient frankincense and myrrh trade
• Piracy off Somalia
• UN intervention 1992–1995
• Abdirashid Ali Shermarke
• Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
• Somalia and Pakistan