Defence Ministry is holding 8 webinars ahead of the 12th edition of Defence Expo

New Delhi: Amid the COVID-19 surge, where the Gujarat government has put the prestigious Defence Expo on hold, the defence ministry on Monday announced that it is holding a series of 8 webinars between January 20, and February 24, with participation from leading luminaries and eminent speakers across many industries.

In an official statement, the ministry said, "The Defexpo webinars are focused on path-breaking topics and will be streamed worldwide."

The defence ministry is scheduled to host the 12th edition of the biennial defence exhibition Def Expo 2022 from March 10 to 13, this year at the capital city of Gujarat, Gandhinagar. "This mega defence International Exhibition is focussing on Land, Air, Naval, Internal Homeland security and electronic systems," the official communique added.

The event provides the firms within the defence industry to showcase their capabilities, products and services to the targeted audience of industry leaders and business decision-makers.

The ministry statement also mentioned, "Government of India with policy initiative of 'Make in India" and 'Atmanirbhar Bharat" believes that India has tremendous potential to become a leading supplier of complete defence solutions to many of its friendly nations. The theme for Defexpo 2022 is "India-The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub"."

However, the Gujarat government is likely to put on the Defence-Expo on the wait and watch list as the Coronavirus cases have exploded in Gujarat.

Defence Ministers of 70 countries were expected to participate in the Defence Expo. The state government had signed an MoU with the Defence Ministry. It has already sought guidance from the ministry and has been asked to wait as of now.

A final call will be taken at the end of this month. In these webinars, representatives from the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), Synergia Foundation, ASSOCHAM, DRDO, DGAQA, Bharat Chamber, and Bharat Shakti are likely to participate.

The webinars are being streamed live on the YouTube channel of the Department of Defence Production and the recordings of webinars are also being made available on Defexpo 2022 website.