Naval expo begins sans presence of Antony, Chandy
25 Sept 2013 5:32 AM IST
The naval exposition Namexpo 2013, first of its kind, to showcase the military might was started without the presence of defence minister on Monday in Kochi in Kerala. Apart from this fact, the chief minister of the hosting state was also not present during the opening ceremony.
Some of the world’s largest defence industrial conglomerates – Rosoboronexport, SAAB, Eurocopter, with the primary buyer for whom they have got their wares all displayed, is missing. The navy chief Admiral DK Joshi was there at the expo.
This is edition one of the show or the International Exposition and Conference on Indian Naval and Maritime Sector held in Kochi.
The reason, sources in New Delhi say, for this ‘royal ignore’ is hubris. The senior bureaucracy in the national capital does not feel it to be important enough for providing recognition and legitimacy to the exposition.
A French source complains that he could not get conglomerates from France like DCNS, or even German companies, who want a slice of the Indian arms procurement pie, because the ministry would not give him the official documents that he could leverage to get participants from Europe.
The exposition being held at the Cochin Port Trust venue, is otherwise a beehive of activity, much in anticipation about who the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), the main organiser, could fetch from the navy or the odd central government functionary who could represent some buyers’ interest.
On Monday, the Namexpo 2013 began without even the presence of Kerala chief minister Oommmen Chandy, who had confirmed earlier but dropped out later, possibly after getting a cue from South Block. So, the responsibility for inaugurating the exposition fell upon, Vice Admiral Satish Soni, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command. He had for company the Kerala ports minister, K Babu as a token of political decision-making.
Though the Indian navy likes to call itself a ‘builders’ navy,’ i.e. a service that acquires indigenous ship platforms or submersibles, clearly there are a lot of areas still, for outright purchases from or collaborations with foreign sources.
Some of the world’s largest defence industrial conglomerates – Rosoboronexport, SAAB, Eurocopter, with the primary buyer for whom they have got their wares all displayed, is missing. The navy chief Admiral DK Joshi was there at the expo.
This is edition one of the show or the International Exposition and Conference on Indian Naval and Maritime Sector held in Kochi.
The reason, sources in New Delhi say, for this ‘royal ignore’ is hubris. The senior bureaucracy in the national capital does not feel it to be important enough for providing recognition and legitimacy to the exposition.
A French source complains that he could not get conglomerates from France like DCNS, or even German companies, who want a slice of the Indian arms procurement pie, because the ministry would not give him the official documents that he could leverage to get participants from Europe.
The exposition being held at the Cochin Port Trust venue, is otherwise a beehive of activity, much in anticipation about who the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), the main organiser, could fetch from the navy or the odd central government functionary who could represent some buyers’ interest.
On Monday, the Namexpo 2013 began without even the presence of Kerala chief minister Oommmen Chandy, who had confirmed earlier but dropped out later, possibly after getting a cue from South Block. So, the responsibility for inaugurating the exposition fell upon, Vice Admiral Satish Soni, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command. He had for company the Kerala ports minister, K Babu as a token of political decision-making.
Though the Indian navy likes to call itself a ‘builders’ navy,’ i.e. a service that acquires indigenous ship platforms or submersibles, clearly there are a lot of areas still, for outright purchases from or collaborations with foreign sources.
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