<span style="color: #222222;">Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said India considers Mozambique among its most important friends and partners in Africa. Holding a bilateral meeting with his Mozambican counterpart Atanasio Mtumuke in Maputo today, Mr Singh said, India and Mozambique are neighbours across the Indian Ocean and both enjoy warm and substantive ties which have been built upon in modern times to forge a strong relationship based on increasing engagement. <br />''<br />''He said, the bilateral cooperation has seen unprecedented enhancement over the past five years, with several high level visits and the high level contacts have imparted positive momentum and dynamism to the relations. Mr Singh said, his visit is the first bilateral visit by an Indian Defence Minister to Mozambique and it is likely to provide further momentum to the bilateral ties. </span><br />