October 2022 Full PDF final

DELHI DIARY
DELHI DIARY
The 12th edition of India’s flagship defence show, branded as DefExpo-2022, was held
this year in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar from 18th-22nd October with 75 countries and 1,340
Indian companies. On October 19, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hosted the
Indian Ocean Region Plus (IOR+) Conclave on the sidelines of the five-day expo. The
mega event addressed common threats in the IOR and measures to address the same.
Along with the IOR+ Conclave, the minister also held bilateral meetings with delegation
leaders from Bangladesh and other countries, which are attending the DefExpo. In
the course of the meeting with Bangladesh side, the Indian Defence Minister met with
Bangladesh Prime Minister’s Security Advisor Maj Gen (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique.
A Ministry of Defence (MOD) release later said the entire spectrum of defence cooperation
was discussed during the meeting, with focus on identifying avenues to expand
mutually beneficial collaboration.
On the same day, Indian Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar held a bilateral meeting with a
Bangladesh delegation led by Armed Forces Division Principal Staff Officer Lt Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman
on the sidelines of DefExpo. MOD in a separate statement said, “They reviewed
the key ongoing bilateral defence cooperation issues between the two countries
and explored ways to enhance defence industrial cooperation.” Earlier in August, India
and Bangladesh conducted their fourth annual defence dialogue. Tri-services staff talks
were also held in the same month. Meanwhile, India offered Bangladesh a $500 million
Line of Credit (LoC) for the purchase of Indian military hardware for the latter’s defence
services. This comes after reports that the Bangladesh’s military is dissatisfied with the
quality of the defence equipment it has received from Chinese suppliers. Defence cooperation
between the two neighbourly countries was also discussed by Prime Ministers
Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina when the latter visited New Delhi on 5-8 September.
INDIA’S SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN DEFENCE PRODUCTION:
CAN BANGLADESH BENEFIT?
Indian defence products worth $1.76 billion were exported in 2021 to 75 countries, of which the USA was
the highest importer apart from Southeast Asia and Africa. As a South Asian neighbour, Bangladesh recently
joined India’s flagship defence exposition DefExpo-2022 from 18th-22nd October, when the two sides
reviewed key ongoing bilateral defence cooperation issues between the countries and explored ways to
enhance defence industrial cooperation, writes DR DEBJYOTI CHANDA from India
Looking at India, one can easily understand that the South Asian country’s defence
capacity has reached a new height in recent years in its quest to become a global
power. When in August this year, INS Vikrant, India's first indigenous aircraft carrier
built by state-owned Cochin Shipyard Limited was commissioned into the Indian
Navy amidst much fanfare, the world looked at India in wonder. INS Vikrant was
installed with long range surface to air missile LR SAM and multifunctional digital
radar systems. India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO),
Israel Aerospace Industries and Bharat Dynamics Ltd collaborated to build these LR
SAMs jointly. INS Vikrant weighs 42,800 tons and is powered by four General Electric
engines and can carry off an air wing of 30 helicopters, fighters and unmanned
aerial vehicles. It consists of 16 hospital beds, 250 tankers of fuel and 2400 compartments
able to accommodate 1600 personnel.
State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd has developed a light combat aircraft LCA ‘Tejas',
which has a general range of 850km and combat range of 500km. Fitted with active
electronically scanned radar for critical operation capability, it can be refuelled on air.
LCA Tejas has also generated much curiosity amongst the buyers in the international
defence markets. On the other hand, BrahMos is a medium range ramjet supersonic
cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia, who have together formed Brah-
Mos Aerospace Private Ltd. The name has been derived from the names of two rivers;
Brahmaputra of India and Moskva of Russia. A $375,000,000 contract has already been
signed with the Philippines for export of this missile and talks with Indonesia are in an
advanced stage. BrahMos has a speed of three times that of sound, making it notoriously
difficult to intercept.
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