President Paul Kagame, on October 26, hosted President Faustin Archange Touadéra of Central African Republic and the two heads of state discussed bilateral cooperation. The duo discussed the political situation in CAR and bilateral cooperation in various areas of security, governance and economic development. Touadéra's visit came days after he had hosted at his home in Damara District, 200 senior officers of Rwandan forces currently on peacekeeping mission in his country, whom he commended for the support and collaboration in maintaining security in CAR. Currently, Rwanda has its armed forces deployed in CAR, where some are deployed as part of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) while others are there through a bilateral agreement between both countries. So far, Rwanda maintains the biggest number of troops in CAR who are operating under the auspice of MINUSCA since 2014. The deployment was in response to the targeting of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) contingent under the UN Peacekeeping force by rebels supported by François Bozize. Besides security ties, the two countries have agreements on defence, mining and oil, and investment promotion. Last year, Rwanda agreed to expand its cooperation with CAR to a much wider range.
