A webinar and expo between India and Nepal were held on Monday on the theme of “Exploring Synergies and Strengthening Defence Cooperation with Nepal”. It was organised under the aegis of Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence through SIDM. This webinar is the part of Aero India 21 series of webinars which are being organised to boost defence cooperation and engagements with friendly foreign countries and achieve defence export target of $5 billion in the next five years.
Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Kathmandu, Anurag Bajpai, Joint Secretary (DIP), Ministry of Defence, Govt of India, Ram Prasad Acharya, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Govt of Nepal and other senior MoD officials from both sides participated in the webinar.
Both sides envisaged close, cordial and multi-dimensional relationship between the two nations which is based on goodwill, mutual respect and appreciation of each other’s aspirations and sensitivities.
Anurag Bajpai, Joint Secretary (DIP), mentioned that our cultural ties are 2,500 years old when Lord Buddha was born in Lumbini in southern Nepal whose valuable teachings nurture the society. He further said that defence cooperation with Nepal is not a new phenomenon and is almost 70 years old when India and Nepal signed Treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1950. In accordance with the “Neighbourhood First” policy of the government, India remains a committed development partner for a stable, prosperous and peaceful Nepal.
During the webinar twelve Indian defence companies—Ashok Leyland, BEML, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, L&T Defence, Mahindra Defence Systems Ltd, MKU Ltd, OFB, SSS Springs, Talk PRO Radios, Tata Advanced Systems Ltd and Yaman Technologies Pvt Ltd—made company and product presentations on major platforms that India can offer.
The webinar was attended by more than 100 participants and more than 100 virtual exhibition stalls have been set up in the expo.