An India-Africa Defence Conclave is being held for the first time during India’s biennial defence exposition, the DefExpo 2020, that was inaugurated in Lucknow by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As many as 14 defence ministers from African countries have confirmed their participation in this event, and the numbers, officials said,  could go up.

Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar said that nearly 40 countries have confirmed their defence ministerial-level participation in the event from February 5-9, 2020 on Gomti riverfront. Kumar said among those countries being represented at the defence ministerial level were the Czech Republic, Mexico, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.

He said there had been a substantial increase in the number of companies registered for participation in DefExpo 2020. From 702 in the previous DefExpo 2018 at Chennai to 1,000 in the 2020 edition in Lucknow. There has been a huge 96% jump in the exhibition space booked by exhibitors – from 27,000 sq m in 2018 to over 53,000 square meters for the Lucknow edition.

The DefExpo 2020 features live demonstrations by all three services, Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and industry, showing the land, naval, air and internal security systems at two locations; one at the exhibition site and the other at the Gomti riverfront.

During the DefExpo20, 19 technical/business seminars have been planned, of which 15 are scheduled to be organised by the various industry Chambers, including the Confederation of Indian Industry, PHD (Punjab, Haryana, Delhi) Chambers of Commerce and the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India. Some of the seminar topics are futuristic and include discussions on artificial intelligence, robotics, Internet of Things (IoTs), drones, wired warriors, and so on. 

A series of webinars have been going on since December 10, 2019, the topics of which were of academic interest and relevance to the defence, aerospace and security industries, academia and the student fraternity, all of which have been widely subscribed to.

Arrangements have been made for 5,000 college students from various technical colleges of UP to visit DefExpo20 during business days. Entry will be free for the public on both February 8 and 9, 2020.

There will be an Instagram photo competition during the business days of the exposition. The best photograph selected by a jury shall fetch the participant cash prizes of Rs 100,000, while the second and third prizes will fetch them Rs 75,000 and Rs 50,000 respectively.

Additionally, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently launched a mobile app (DEFEXPO 2020) that has details of all of the multifarious activities, including the schedule of live demonstrations and other activities during the event.

(The author is former spokesperson, Defence Ministry and Indian Army)