India to highlight achievement in defence R&D at DefExpo

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday invited foreign defence companies to participate in the next edition of the DefExpo, saying India is open to conducting business on a mutually beneficial and collaborative approach in the spirit of “give and take”.

In an address at an ambassadors’ roundtable on the upcoming expo, Singh said India’s defence exports have grown by 334 per cent in the last five years and now India is exporting military equipment to more than 75 countries.

He said the upcoming DefExpo will provide an overview of what India has been able to achieve in terms of defence research and development, production and application of modern technologies for use by the military.

Gandhinagar in Gujarat will host the 12th edition of India’s mega defence exhibition – the DefExpo – from March 11-13 next year.

The roundtable was aimed at briefing the ambassadors of foreign missions on the planning, arrangements and other details of DefExpo 2022.

The defence ministry said more than 200 delegates, including ambassadors, heads of missions and defence attaches, attended the roundtable, reflecting the growing global interest in the Indian defence space.

Singh also reiterated the government’s commitment to the collective security system laid down in Chapter VII of the UN Charter which deals with action with respect to threats to the peace, breaches of the peace and acts of aggression.

“As a responsible nation, we wish to ensure a stable international security system through these collaborations and efforts,” he said.

Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Secretary (Defence Production) Raj Kumar and other senior officials of the ministry and the government of Gujarat were also present.

“Inviting the foreign delegates to attend DefExpo 2022, Asia’s largest defence exhibition, Rajnath Singh said India is open to conduct business on a mutually beneficially collaborative basis, in the spirit of give and take, for all-round welfare of everyone,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

The defence minister said he was sanguine that the exhibition will bring all the latest technologies under one roof and provide a myriad of opportunities to the stakeholders in the aerospace and defence industry.

“The Defence Expo-2022 is going to provide an overview of what India has been able to achieve in terms of defence R and D and production, application of modern technologies, liberalised collaborative policies that we have introduced in a short period of 5-7 years,” Singh said.

He told the Envoys that the participation of their respective countries at the expo will lead to the development of “mutually advantageous relationships” in the defence sector, as reported by Trinity Mirror, a partner of TV BRICS.