BlackBerry announced its third licensing agreement with a handset company, enabling it to maintain its presence in the lucrative Indian smartphone market.

The company is working with Optiemus Infracom, an existing distribution partner for BlackBerry devices in the country.

BlackBerry said it is licensing device software and brand assets to Optiemus, which will design, manufacture, sell, promote and support BlackBerry-branded devices in India as well as neighbouring markets Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh.

These were the very markets (along with Indonesia) omitted from an earlier exclusive BlackBerry deal with device maker TCL. At this point, BlackBerry said it was in “late discussions” for a deal addressing India, which now appears to have been with Optiemus.

BlackBerry also has a separate agreement in place for Indonesia.

The Canadian company said licensees are now ready to manufacture and deliver BlackBerry-branded devices in every market across the world, “thus completing our transition to a security software and services company”.

It was also said to support the Make in India initiative, by creating manufacturing and job opportunities in the country.