Def Min AK Antony leaves for Berlin – India is partner nation at ILA 2008
24 May 2008
New Delhi: Indian defence minister, AK Antony, leaves New Delhi on Sunday, on a three-day visit to Germany to attend the International Aerospace Exhibition and Conferences – ILA 2008, popularly known as Berlin Air Show. Antony will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, and is slated to hold talks with his German counterpart, Dr Franz Josef Jung.
Germany's federal chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel is scheduled to inaugurate the air show on 27 May. According to the official programme, the chancellor will make a 90-minute tour of the event and will be accompanied by Antony, Michael Glos, federal minister for economics and technology, Matthias Platzeck, minister president of the Land Brandenburg, Harald Wolf, mayor of Berlin and senator for economics, technology and women and Jürgen Thumann, president of the Federation of German Industries (BDI).
A large number of Indian companies – both public and private as well as defence organisations will showcase their defence-related capabilities and products at the air show. The composite India Pavilion, which covers 1200 sq meters, is hosting five defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs), namely Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML), Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL), Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) and Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd (MIDHANI); the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and five private defence industries – The Tata group of companies, Larsen & Toubro, CADES, ACCORD Software & Systems and Saraswati Dynamics.
With India being the partner nation for this year's show, a seminar on ''Opportunities in the Indian Defence Sector'' will be held on 28 May. The Indian Air Force's 'Sarang' team is scheduled to provide what is expected to be a scintillating display of aerobatics in their helicopters. The 'Air Warriors Symphony Orchestra' will also perform at Berlin Air Show.
The defence minister's delegation includes the chief of air staff, air chief marshal, Fali Homi Major, defence secretary, Vijay Singh, secretary, defence production, Pradeep Kumar, DG (acquisition) SK Sharma, advisor to the defence minister, Sundaram Krishna, additional secretary, defence production, Ajoy Acharya, joint secretary, (exports) Satyajit Rajan besides representatives of DPSUs.
The minister of state, defence production, Rao Inderjit Singh, will also be attending the Berlin Air Show from 28 May.
