More than 3,000 delegates from 70 countries are expected to participate in the expo which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Participation of delegates from Ukraine and Russia yet to be confirmed; event will be held from March 10-14, expo will also see India-Africa defence dialogue

War clouds are hovering over the DEFEXPO to be held in Gandhinagar from March 10 to 14. Though the preparations for the defence expo are in full swing, there are speculations about the participation of Russia and Ukraine.

Ukraine is under attack from Russia. A meeting between India and Russia is scheduled to be held at Mahatma Mandir on the second day of the expo on March 11.

The same day will see the India- Africa defence dialogue. Several key leaders and officials from Russia and Africa are expected to participate in the dialogue.

A senior government official told Mirror that at this point there is no confirmation from the Russian delegates and their schedule is not known. “Similarly there is no word from Ukraine about the participation of their officials in the expo. We are going as per the schedule and have not received any communication from the Ministry of Defence about any change in the schedule,” said the official.

More than 3,000 delegates from 70 countries are expected to participate in the expo which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The expo will see Manthan, an innovation event that will showcase innovations in the defence sector.

“Invest4iDEX” another event during the expo will cover innovation in defence excellence. The three-day expo will see over 20 seminars and eight industry webinars. The seminar topics include Gujarat on Path to Create Future Aerospace and Defence Hub.

Stimulating India’s Defence Exports for Global Requirements, Opportunities in Aerospace & Defence Industry in Karnataka, Emerging Partnership between New Defence Companies emerging from erstwhile OFB.

Industry webinars will focus on issues like enabling R&D ecosystem for future-ready defence products, opportunities and way ahead for India’s role in global defence manufacturing, the future of warfare (primarily in Asia), addressing gaps in defence production, Indian defence industry’s growth linked umbilically to MSMEs among others.