Place in news: India expresses serious concern over the security situation in the Sahel and Lake Chad region

Place in news: India expresses serious concern over the security situation in the Sahel and Lake Chad region

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – International Relations

In news 

• India has expressed serious concern over the security situation in the Sahel and Lake Chad region in West Africa.
• India also condemned terrorist attacks by Boko Haram in Nigeria and Lake Chad region and by Islamic State in West Africa.

Important value additions 

• Lake Chad is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in central Africa, which has varied in size over the centuries. 
• An endorheic basin is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water. 
• The freshwater lake is located in the Sahelian zone of West-central Africa.
• Lake Chad is mainly in the far west of Chad, bordering on northeastern Nigeria.
• It is the largest lake in the Chad Basin.
• The Chari River, fed by its tributary the Logone, provides over 90% of the lake’s water, with a small amount coming from the Yobe River in Nigeria/Niger.
• Despite high levels of evaporation, the lake is fresh water.