By IRNA,
New Delhi : Though India is traditionally known to be a peace-loving nation, but at the same time, we are ready to meet any challenge to our territorial integrity and sovereignty, said Defence Minister, A K Antony in New Delhi on Monday.
Inaugurating the 6th DefExpo-2010, Antony said that though India is a mature and responsible power and traditionally peace loving, it is fully geared up to meet any threat from any quarters.
“The biggest challenge facing the world today is the security threats arising out of rapidly advancing technology. This has added a new dimension to the overall security environment”, said Defence Minister.
“Our Government is committed to the rapid modernisation of our Armed Forces, as we want our Forces to be equipped with state-of-the-art technology and equipment to help them defend our sovereignty,” he added.
Defence Minister said that India’s defence expenditure is about 2.5 per cent of its GDP.
The Indian economy is expected to grow at 8-10 per cent for the next two decades.
Expenditure on defence in absolute terms is bound to increase in equal proportion.
Antony said the increasing expenditure on defence will help the Indian industry play a more “meaningful role” in the defence sector in the country.
Emphasising the need for achieving high level indigenisation in defence needs, Antony said, “Our quest for self-reliance will need cooperation between the public and private sector defence industry. We want public and private sectors to work as close partners.”
Terming the DefExpo 2010 as an opportunity for the global industry to “tap the market and business potential” in India, he welcomed the participants in the event to help in modernisation of Indian armed forces.
Antony said the 7th edition of DefExpo will be held here from February 09-12 in 2012.
Over 650 Indian and foreign companies are participating in this edition of the biennial exhibition and 30 official delegations, including 14 Ministerial-level delegations, will take part in it.
Defence Ministers from the UK, Bulgaria, Hungary, Nigeria, Turkey, Uganda, Senegal and Suriname along with official delegations from 41 countries would attend the deliberations.
Naval Chiefs from Kazakhstan, Mozambique, Brunei, Qatar and Senegal and Army Chief from Mongolia will also attend the exhibition.
The DefExpo was conceptualised in 1998 with an objective to promote defence exports from India and exhibit the capabilities of Indian defence R&D and production.
The first exhibition was held in 1999 and subsequently in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008.
While a modest 197 exhibitors participated in the first Def Expo, the biennial event will feature 650 exhibitors in its 6th edition this year.