Visit of Minister of Defence M. Stropnický in India and Czech participation at Aero India 2015

26.02.2015 / 07:10 | Aktualizováno: 23.01.2017 / 10:33

From February 18 to February 20, 2015, Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic Mr. Martin Stropnický paid visit to India in order to support Czech exporters participating in the exhibition of military and civilian aircraft Aero India 2015. At the airshow the Czech Republic was represented by Aircraft Industries which exhibited aircraft L410, and by a group of Czech aerobatic pilots "Flying Bulls" that are performing on planes Zlin 50 LX. On a display at the exhibition Aero India 2015 were also presented Tatra trucks with equipped with radars of Indian origin. During the five days of Aero India 2015 that were open only for professionals the exhibition was attended by almost 250 thousand visitors. This year's Aero India was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India N. Modi who in his speech stated that he wanted India to become much stronger and competitive manufacturer of defense technologies and to achieve this goal India needs to cooperate with investors and suppliers from all over the world.

Aero India exhibition was held at the Yelahanka Air Force Base in the suburbs of Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka. It was the 10th year of this biennial event, and according to a statement of the organizers it was attended by a total of 54 delegations of senior state officials from abroad. Furthermore 623 companies took part in the exhibition including 328 foreign companies, and apart from various aviation technologies 72 different types of planes were dispalayed at this event.

During his visit to India Minister od Defence M. Stropnický had the opportunity to meet with M. Parrikar, Defence Minister of India, with whom he mainly discussed the supply Tatar vehicles for the Indian Army as well as a tender for supply of assault rifles manufactured in Český Brod.

Furthermore, the Minister the opportunity to meet with GR Pusapati, Minister of Civil Aviation, Indian Army chief gen. D. Singh who personally visited the stand of Aircraft Industries and the exhibition of L410 aircraft, Defense Minister of Israel M. Ya'alon and last but not least the H.E. Martin Stropnický met with representatives of BEML which assembles Tatra vehicles in India and supplies them to the Indian Army.

The minister also inaugurated a stand of Aircraft Industries and met with company representatives who were present at the show. Moreover, the Minister also met with representatives of the Swedish company SAAB and had the opportunity to shake hands with members of the Flying Bulls aerobatic team. During the meeting with representatives of the BEML company, Tatra and BEML representatives signed a memorandum on cooperation betweenthe two respective companies regarding completion of Tatra vehicles and thier supplies for the Indian Army.

Visit of the Czech Minister of Defence in India supported strengthening of trade relations in the field of military industry and underlined the interest of the Czech Republic to be involved in the development of key sectors of the Indian Army. All of the above meetings contributed to the visibility of the Czech Republic in India and stressed the interest of the Czech Republic to collaborate with Indian business partners in the defence industry.