Belarus, India promoting military-technical ties

From 6 to 9 February 2014, a Belarusian delegation took part in the Defexpo India 2014 international land and naval arms show, hosted by New Dehli. Our arms makers were invited by the Indian defence minister, which goes in line with the close military-technical ties between Belarus and India and the considerable potential of the collaboration.

The Pragati Maidan exhibition centre saw products of 368 foreign companies from 30 countries and 256 Indian enterprises. National pavilions were set up by 12 countries (France, Germany, Hungary,

Israel, Italy, Norway, Poland, South Africa, South Korea and the UK).

LEMT BelOMO demonstrated advanced laser-optical and optical-electronic products on the stand of its Indian partner.

The Belarusian delegation was headed by First Deputy of Goscomvoyenprom Vladimir Sulimov. Representatives of our defence companies paid business visits to the show. Within the framework of the exhibition, Belarusian delegates met the management of India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and leading developers and manufacturers of defence products.

Besides that, the members of the Belarusian delegation familiarised themselves with the weapons showcased at Defexpo India 2014.

After the show, the sixth session of the Joint Belarusian-Indian Commission for Military-Technical Cooperation was held in New Delhi. The parties reviewed the implementation of the decisions made at the previous session, discussed the topical problems and determined cooperation vistas in a number of fields. Noteworthy are the plans to upgrade armoured vehicle and air defence systems in service with the Indian Armed Forces. The parties also discussed the possibility to set up a service centre of optical systems and provide India with Belarusian production technologies of optical, op-tronic and laser systems.

Within the framework of the session, the Belarusian delegation visited the facilities of the Mahindra Defence Land Systems India Pvt. Ltd. (performing assembly of thin-skinned vehicles), and Samtel Avionics & Systems (manufacturing aviation optics and other systems).

In the final protocol, the members of the commission specified the upcoming bilateral cooperation projects and the ways of further interaction.