In an effort to hard sell the forthcoming international Defence exhibition, Def Expo held every two years in India, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday held here a round table conference with Ambassadors and Defence Attaches of 80 countries. The next DefExpo, the 11th so far, will be held in Lucknow in February next year. The objective of the high-powered meeting on Monday was to showcase the growing defence industry in the country and rising business opportunities in the manufacturing sector.
Giving details of the conference, Defence Ministry officials said the event was a major outreach to the defence manufacturing industries of the world. It was aimed to outline the arrangements made for the mega exhibition and elicit suggestions from the envoys to further improve the experience.
Addressing the conference, the Defence Minister said the DefExpo will not only provide countries with the opportunity to showcase their equipment and platforms, but also be able to explore the strengths and capabilities of India’s defence industry for meeting operational goals.
Observing that India’s defence sector has matured and is exploring mutually beneficial partnerships with friendly countries to set up industries in India and abroad, Singh said, DefExpo will showcase the Government’s intent to achieve a turnover of USD 26 billion in aerospace and defence goods and services by 2025.
He added the event will showcase India’s plans for Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu where investment commitments of about USD 1 billion have already been received. More than 100 business events and seminars are being planned with over 1,000 exhibitors expected at the mega event.
Singh also urged the Ambassadors to impress upon the captains of their respective defence industries to participate in DefExpo 2020 in a big way so as to “dive deep into the strategic and business opportunities available and to establish strategic partnerships”.
Impressing upon the DefExpo’s sub-theme ‘Digital Transformation of Defence’, the minister said digitalisation is the key to future security scenario as the spectrum of warfare is transiting from land, air & sea to cyber & space. He said, DefExpo will demonstrate India’s ability in cyberspace and define its needs in the sector.