Rajnath Singh speaking during the conference in New Delhi, on January 9, 2023. (Photo: Defence ministry)
New Delhi: The defence minister, Rajnath Singh, chaired a roundtable conference with foreign envoys for the forthcoming Aero India, on Monday. The defence ministry’s department of defence production organized a reach-out event, in which ambassadors, high commissioners, chargé d’affaires and defence attachés of over 80 countries attended.
In the event, Singh invited the representatives from across the world to attend Asia’s largest and 14th air show and aviation exhibition – Aero India – 2023, which will be held in the Yelahanka airbase in Bengaluru from February 13 to February 17. He urged the envoys to encourage their respective defence and aerospace companies to attend the global event.
Addressed the Ambassadors’ Roundtable conference for Aero
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) January 9, 2023
India 2023 in New Delhi today.
Invited the world to attend Asia’s largest Aero show, to be held in Bengaluru between February 13-17. https://t.co/6FpI7JWDKV pic.twitter.com/BcxG9BlGO1
During the conference, the defence minister described Aero India, which is a biennial event, as a premier global aviation trade fair that provides an opportunity for the Indian defence-aviation industry, including the aerospace industry, to showcase its products, technologies, and solutions to the national decision makers. The five-day event will witness a combination of major aerospace and defence trade exposition, along with aerial displays by the Indian Air Force.
“Besides the major entrepreneurs and investors in the defence and aerospace industries, the event will witness participation of prominent defence thinktanks and defence-related bodies from across the world. Aero India will, indeed, provide a unique opportunity for exchange of information, ideas, and new technological developments in the aviation industry,” Singh said.
Recalling the success of Aero India – 2021, Singh said the last edition had witnessed unprecedented attendance of over 600 exhibitors physically and another 108 virtually. He added that the event saw the participation of 63 countries and around 3,000 business-to-business meetings were held. He also elaborated on the success of DefExpo – 2022 that saw the participation of over 1,340 exhibitors, businesses, investors, startups, MSMEs, armed forces, and delegates from several countries.
The others who attended the conference were the junior defence minister, Ajay Bhatt; chief of defence staff, General Anil Chauhan; Air chief, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari; Army chief, General Manoj Pande, and the deputy chief of the Navy, Vice Admiral Sanjay Mahindru.
